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FARM 
CONVENIENCES 



A PRACTICAL HAND-BOOK FOR 
THE FARM. 

TTVO HUNDRED AND TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS. 



"^ : fTs^^f^ .^v 



i 








NEW YORK: 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 

751 BROADWAY. 

1884. 



Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 18;'4, by he 

OKANGE JUDD COM PA IN Y, 

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington 



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PREFACE. 



Skill in the construction and use of simple labor- 
saving devices is of vast importance to the farmer, and 
any aid to the development of this manual dexterity is 
alvrays very welcome. 

The volume, herewith presented, abounds in valuable 
hints and suggestions for the easy and rapid construction 
of a large number of home-made contrivances within the 
reach of all. It is an every-day hand-book of farm 
work, and contains the best ideas gathered from the ex- 
perience of a score of practical men in all departments 
of farm labor. Every one of the two hundred and forty 
pages, and two hundred and twelve engravings, teaches 
a valuable lesson in rural economy. *' Farm Oo:N^VEif- 
lENCEs" is a manual of what to do, and how to do it 
quickly and readily. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Bin for Oats 9 

Fastenings for Cows 10 

Nests, Movable, for Hens 11 

Straw, How to get Rid of 13 

Bulls, Young, The Management of 15 

Ice-IIook, A Convenient 17 

^^'ol•kshop, Hints for the 17 

Barrel-Header, A 19 

Boats, Building Ribless 21 

Tug, To Mend a Broken S4 

Hay Racks 27 

Mired Animal, Extricating 29 

Grinding Tools 33 

Hanging Hogs, Method of 34 

Bog Spavin, Relief for 35 

Tool Boxes for Wagons 36 

Hinge, Making a 38 

Shelter for the Head 40 

Level with Square and Plumb Line 41 

Cattle, Keep under Cover 42 

Watering Places for Stock 43 

Shaving-Horse, A 44 

Milldng-Stool, A , 45 

Trap, A Locust 47 

Manure Spreading 49 

Tools, Putting Awav 51 

Doors, Self -Closing.* 52 

Ventilators for Fodder Stacks 53 

Corn Marker for Uneven Ground 55 

Harrow, A Home-Made 56 

Land Clearing by Blasting 57 

Losses, Preventable on the Farm , 62 

Cradle for Drawing a Boat ,.,.,... 64 

Feed Rack for Sheep. . .• , . , . 65 

Night-Soil, How to Manage 68 

Trough, A Water and Feed _ . 69 

Stalls, The Construction of = • 70 

Hog Killing Implements, — Ringing 72 

Cement, How to Mix 74 

Bulls, Ringing and Handling 78 

Sled for Removing Corn Shocks 81 

Trough, A Tagging 82 

Lime and Lime Kilns 82 

Corn, Unloading 87 

Stone Boats 88 

Dump Cart, A 89 



COKTEiq^TS. 



PAGE 

Washing of Hill-Sides, To Prevent 90 

Mink-Trap, A Log 93 

Plowing From Inside of Field 93 

Wire Fence Tightener 95 

Planting Com, A Marker 96 

Feed Trough and Halter 99 

Scow, How to Make a Fishing 101 

Flood Fence 107 

Clearing Slough Land 107 

How to Dress a Beef 109 

Farm Cart Ill 

Gate Post Braces 113 

Whipple-Trees for Plowing Corn 114 

Fastening for Mill Leg 116 

Hitching a Crib-Biter 119 

Vegetable Matter, How to Increase in Soil 120 

Open Links 131 

Trap for Sheep-Killing Dogs 123 

How to Use a File Properly 126 

Manure Harvest, The 130 

Fastening Cattle with Bows 131 

Nest for Egg-Eating Hens 135 

Plowing Gear for a Kicking I\Iulo , 136 

Fork, A Leaf •. 137 

Nail, Horse-Shoe, How to Drive 139 

Screw-Drivers 140 

Prevent Cows Sucking Themselves .... = ......... 143 

Hay Rack and Manger 145 

Basket, A Barn 145 

Cows Kicking, Treatment of 146 

Boat-House, How to Build 147 

Waste Lands, Make Them Useful 149 

A Rat Guard 150 

A Crupper-Pad for Horses 151 

Dam for a Fish Pond , 153 

A Wagon Jack 154 

Brace for a Kicking Horse 156 

How to Save Liquid Manure 157 

An Open Shed for Feeding 159 

Shade for Horses' Eyes 160 

A Field Roller 163 

Portable Slop Barrel 163 

Where and How to Apply Fertilizers 164 

Mill for Crushing Bones 165 

Farm Wheelbarrow 168 

Balling of Horses' Feet, To Prevent 169 

Cattle Throwing Fences. To Prevent 170 

Feed Boxes 171 

A Cattle Tie 173 

A Beef Raiser 174 

Cedar Stem Soil-Stirrer 175 



8 CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Hint for Pig-Killing 176 

Mending Broken Tools 176 

A Large Fced-liaek 178 

Barn Door Fastening 179 

Fork Stable Scraper 180 

Curing Hay, Method of 181 

Granary Conveniences 183 

Non-Slipping Chain for Boulders 184 

Pitchfork Holder 185 

Hog Loader, A Convenient 186 

Land Scraper 187 

Bag-Holder, A Home-Madc 189 

Egg-Carrier, A Safety 190 

Brush-Holder, A 192 

Brood Sow Pens 193 

Rabbit-Trap, A 194 

\Yooden Stable Floor 195 

Holder or '' Grip " for Rails 197 

Grindstone-Box and Hangers 199 

Corn Loader 200 

Drains, Protecting Outlets of 201 

Log Boat, A 202 

Wagon Seats, Cheap 203 

Bag-Holder on Platform Scales 204 

Drains, Making Board 206 

Place for Tools 207 

Water-Spout and Stock-Trough 209 

Shed, A Desirable Milking 210 

Wear Plate for Harness Tugs 211 

Fence, Portable Water 212 

Ditch Cleaner and Decpener 212 

Dam, How to Build 214 

Hop Poles, How to Drive 215 

Grain Box, A Convenient 216 

Road-Scraper, A 217 

Root Crops, Aids in Digging 218 

Swinging-Stall Fronts 221 

Corn Fodder, Save All Everywhere 222 

Brush Rake, Improved 223 

Muck and Peat, Digging 225 

Cleaner for Horses' Hoof's 226 

Shelter for Stock in Cold Weather 226 

Troughs, Good Stone 227 

Lambs, Artificial Feeding of 229 

Bailed Box, A Convenient 230 

Cart, Clieap Ensilage 232 

Hurdle, A lievolving Sheep 234 

Nest for Setting Hens 2:J6 

Barn-Yard Economy 237 

Shed, A Cheap Manure 2c8 

Rack, A Sheep 239 



FARM CONVENIENCES, 



A CONVENIENT BIN FOR OATS. 

The usual receptacle for oats, corn, or mill feed, or 
other grain for domestic animals, is a common bin or 
box about four feet in liiglit. It is difficult to get the 
grain out of such a jilacc when the quantity is half or 
more exhausted. To obviate this inconvenience, there 
may be affixed, about one foot from the bottom on one 
side of the bin, a board, {B) figure 1. This is nailed co 
as to project into the bin at an angle sufficient to allov/ 
the filling of a measure between the lower edge of board 
B and top edge of the opening at M, The opposite 
lower side of the bin is covered with boards, as indicated 




Fig. 1. — A BIX FOK OATS OK OTHEK FEED. 

by the dotted line at R, for the purpose of placing the 
contents within easy reach. The top can be completed 
with hinged cover as well as the delivery space. By 



10 



FABM C02TVENIEXCES. 



using a bin of this form, the last bushel is as easily re- 
moved as the first one. 



FASTENINGS FOR COWS. 

Although stanchions are really the safest fastening 
for cows, yet some persons object to them because the 
animals are held in a too confined position, and one 
which is sup2:)0sed to be painful, or otherwise objection- 
able to the cows. Most owners of valuable cows consider 
safety to be the first requisite in their management, and 
the question as to what the cow would like as of minor 
importance. Stanchions have the valuable recommen- 
dation that one always finds his cows in the morning just 
where they were left at night, if they have been properly 
secured. Nevertheless, for those who dislike stanchions, 
there are other safe ways of fastening cows. For some 
years we used the method shown in figures 2 and 3. In 




Fiii-. f2.— i-asti:mng by sliding king on a pole 



the first a strong smooth pole was inserted through the 
floor and " stepped " into the beam beneath and into the 
floor above. It was also fastened by an iron strap bolted 
through the front- of the trough. A steel ring to which 



FARM CONVENIEiq-CES. 



11 



a steel chain was attached was made to slide up and 
down upon the post, and a leather neck strap, or, in some 
cases, a leather head stall, was attached to the chain by 
a suitable ring or loop. The ring coulc^ not fall so low 
as the floor, being held by the edge of the feed-trough, 
and the cow's feet could not, therefore, be entangled in 
the chain by getting over it. This is the chief danger 
in the use of neck straps and chains, but it may be avoid- 
ed in this way. Another plan is to have an iron rod 
bolted to the feed-trongh, upon which the ring may slide. 
This is equally secure, and gives more room for move- 
ment to the cow. With these ring-ties it is best to have 




Fig. 3. — FASTENING ATTACHED TO FEED-TKOUGH. 

short stalls to prevent the cows interfering with each 
other, else one of them may step on to another as it is 
lying down. The teats are sometimes injured even when 
stanchions are used, but the danger of this is greater 
with chain ties. 



MOVABLE NESTS FOR HENS. 

Hens, as a general thing, are remarkably self-willed 
and obstinate. Perhaps an exception may be made as 



12 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

regards the Brahmas, which are very docile and easily 
managed. On account of this general peculiarity of 
fowls, many people who possess a somewhat similar dis- 
position, find no success in keeping them. Their hens 
will not lay in the nests provided for them, or after sit- 
ting a few days upon a nest of eggs, leave them and 
never return. The consequences are, either no eggs at 
all, or nests hidden where they cannot be reached ; no 
chickens, and time and labor lost. This may all be 
avoided if the owners will only study the habits and in- 
stincts of their poultry reasonably. One of the most 
inveterate habits of hens is that of hiding their nests, or 
seeking them in retired, shaded places. Those who would 
have plenty of eggs must make their arrangements ac- 
cordingly. A very cheap and convenient nest is shown 
in figure 4. It is made of i)ieccs of board eighteen 



MOVABLE hen's NEST. 



inches long, nailed endwise to three-sided cleats at the 
top and bottom. The box need not be more than eight- 
een or twenty inches in length. Some corner pieces 
are nailed at the front to make it firm, and the back 



FARM CONVENIE]N'CES. 13 

• 

should be closed. These nests may be placed in secluded 
corners, behind sheds, or beneath bushes in the back 
yard, or behind a barrel or a bundle of straw. The 
nest egg should be of glass or porcelain, and every even- 
ing the eggs that have been laid during the day should 
be removed. A little cut straw mixed with clean earth 
or sand, will make the best material for the nest. This 
should be renewed occasionally, for the sake of cleanli- 
ness. When a hen has taken possession of one of these 
nests, it may be removed at night to the hatching-house, 
without disturbing her. Before the nests are used, they 
should be thoroughly well lime-washed around the 
joints, to keep away lice. 



HOW TO GET RID OF STRAW. 

Many farmers in " the West,'' and some in what we 
call "the East," are troubled as to what they shall do 
with the piles of straw which lie about their fields. 
Upon the same farms with these nearly useless straw 
piles, many head of stock are kept, and many more 
might be kept, which could be made useful in reducing 
the straw to a condition in which it would serve as 
manure. If the already urgent necessity for manure 
upon the western and southern fields were realized, there 
would be little hesitation in taking measures to remove 
the difficulty. The chief obstacle is, that these involve 
either personal or hired labor ; the first is objectionable 
to many, and the second cannot be had for want of the 
money necessary to pay for it. The least laborious 
method of using this straw and making it serve the 
double purpose of a shelter for stock and a fertilizer for 
the field upon which it has been grown, is as follows : 
Some poles are set in the ground, and rails or other 



14 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

• 

poles are laid upon them so as to form a sloping roof. 
This is made near or around the place chosen for thrash- 
ing the grain. The straw from the thrashing-machine 
is heaped upon the rails, making a long stack, which 
forms three sides of a square, with the open side towards 
the south, and leaving a space beneath it in which cattle 
may be sheltered from storms. In this enclosure some 
rough troughs or racks may be placed, from which to 
feed corn. Here the cattle will feed and lie, or will lie 
at nights under shelter, while feeding during the day 
upon corn in the field. As the straw that is given them 
becomes trampled and mixed with the droppings, a 
further supply is thrown down from the stack. The 
accumulation may be removed and spread upon the field 
to be plowed in when it is so required, and the stakes 
pulled up and carried to another place, where they may 
be needed for the same purpose. Such a shelter as this 
would be very serviceable for the purpose of making 
manure, even where straw is scarce, as in parts of the 
Southern States. There pine boughs may be made to 
serve as a covering, and leaves, pine straw, dry pond 
muck, swamp muck, *' trash "from cotton fields, corn 
stalks, or pea vines, and any other such materials may be 
gathered and thrown from time to time beneath the 
cattle. Cotton-seed meal, straw, and coarse hay would 
keep stock in excellent order, and although there may 
be little snow or ice during the wnnter months in those 
States, yet the animals will be very much better for even 
this rude but comfortable shelter. In many other jolaces 
such a temporary arrangement will be found useful in 
saving the hauling of straw, stalks, or hay from distant 
fields, and the carting of manure back again to them. 
It will be found vastly easier to keep a few young cattle 
in such a field, and go thither daily to attend to them 
during the winter when work is not pressing, than to 



FARM COKVEKIEKCES. . 15 

haul many loads of hay or straw to the barn at harvest 
time, or many loads of manure in the busy weeks of 
spring. 

THE MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG BULLS. 

Many farmers want a method of disciplining bulls so 
that they may be made more docile and manageable. 
To do this it would be advisable to work them occasion- 
ally in a one-horse tread power. They should be used 
to this when young, and thus being made amenable to 
restraint, there will be no '^ breaking " needed afterwards 
and consequently no trouble. We have used a Jersey 
bull in a tread-power in which he worked with more 
steadiness than a horse, and twice a week he served a 
very useful purpose in cutting the fodder for the stock. 
Nothing more was needed than to lead him by a rope 
from the nose-ring into the tread-power, and tie him 
short so that he could not get too far forward. He was 
very quiet, not at all mischievous, and was a very sure 
stock bull ; and besides this, the value of his work was 
at least equal to the cost of his keep. Where there is no 
tread-power, a substitute may be found in the arrange- 
ment shown in figure 5. Set a post in the barn-yard, bore 
a hole in the top, and drive a two-inch iron pin into the 
hole. Take the wheel of a wagon that has an iron axle, 
and set it upon the top of the post so that it will turn on 
the pin as on an axle. Fasten a strong pole (such as a 
binding pole for a hay wagon) by one end to the wheel, 
and bore two holes in the other end, large enough to 
take the arms of an ox-bow in them. Fix a light-elastic 
rod to the wheel, so that the end will be in advance of 
the end of the larger pole. Yoke the bull to the pole, 
and tie the nose-ring to the end of the elastic rod, in such 
a way that a slight pull is exerted upon the ring. Then 



16 



PARM CONVENIEN-CES. 




11 1 



^^^^^mm^mmM^mM 



FARM CO>s"VEXI£NCES. 17 

lead the bull around a few times until he gets used to it ; 
he will then travel in the ring alone until he is tired, 
when he will stop. Two hours of this exercise a day 
will keep a bull in good temper, good condition and 
excellent health. 




A CONVENIENT ICE-HOOK. 

A very handy ice-hook may be made as shown in fig- 
ure 6. The handle is firmly fastened and keyed into a 
socket; at the end are two sharply- 
pointed spikes, one of which 
serves to push pieces of ice, and 
the other to draw them to the 
shore, or out of the water, to be 
loaded and removed. It may be 
made of light iron, horse-shoo 
bar will be heavy enough, and 
there is no need to' have the ^''^s- (>.— ice-hook. 
points steeled ; it will be sufficient if they are chilled, 
after they are sharpened, in salt and ice pounded to- 
gether. 

HINTS FOR THE WORKSHOP. 

A grindstone is very seldom kept in good working or- 
der ; generally it is '' out of true," as it is called, or worn 
out of a perfectly circular shape. A new stone is fre- 
quently hung so that it does not run ^^true," and the 
longer it is used, the worse it becomes. When this is 
the case, it may be brought into a circular shape by 
turning it down with a worn-out mill-file. It is very 
difficult to do this perfectly by hand, but it is easily done 
by the use of the contrivance shown in figure 7. A post, 
slotted in the upper part, is bolted to the frame. A 



18 



FAIiM COXVENIEXCES. 



piece of luird wood, long enough to reach over the 
frame, is pivoted in the slot. This should be made two 
inches wider than the stone, and be pivoted, so that an 
opening can be made in. the middle of it, of the same 
width as the stone. This opening is made with sloping 
ends, so that a broad mill-file may be wedged into it in 
the same manner as a plane-iron is set in a plane. At 
the opposite end of the frame a second post is bolted to 




TllUEING A GRINDSTONE, 



it. A long slot, or a series of holes, is made in the lower 
part of this jiost, so that it may be raised or lowered at 
pleasure by sliding it up or down upon the bolt. If a 
slot is made, a v/asher is used with the bolt ; this will 
make it easy to set the post at any desired height. It 
should be placed so that the upper piece of wood may 
rest upon it, exactly in the same position in which the 
file will be brought into contact with the stone. A 



FARM C0XVEXIEXCE3. 



19 



weight is laid upon the upper piece to keep it down, and 
hold the cutter upon the stone. When the stone is 
turned around slowly, the uneven parts are cut away, 
while those which do not project beyond the proper line 
of the circumference are not touched. 

A Grinding Frame to hold tools is shown in figure 8. 




nOLDEK FOIt TOOLfi. 



It is made of light pieces of pine, or hard wood. The 
tool to be ground is fastened to the cross-piece. A 
sharp point, a nail, or a screw, is fastened to the nar- 
row end of the frame, and, when in use, the point is 
stuck into the wall of the shed, which forms a rest. 



A NON-PATENTED BARREL-HEADER. 

Not long since we saw in operation a useful contriv- 
ance for pressing the heads of apple or egg barrels into 
place. Both apples and eggs require to be packed very 



20 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



firmly to enable them to be transported in barrels with 
safety. Apples loosely j^acked in a barrel will come to 
market in a very badly bruised condition, and if the 
packing around eggs is not very firmly compressed, the 
eggs and packing cliange places or get mixed uji, and it 
is the eggs, and not the packings which then suffers. A 
barrel of eggs properly packed, with layers of chaff or 
oats an inch thick between the layers of eggs, and three 
inches at each end of the barrel, will bear to be com- 
pressed as much as three inches with safety; without 
this compression, eggs are almost sure to be greatly 
damaged. A barrel of apples may fill the barrel to 
about two inches above the chime, and will bear to 
have the head brought down to its place. When barrels 
containing these perishable articles are thus packed they 
may receive very rough usage without injury to the con- 
tents. The header referred to con- 
sists of a bar of half-inch square 
iron rod, with a large eye or loop 
at one end, and at the other end 
two diA'crging hooks which gras23 
the bottom of the barrel. The bar 
is bent to fit the curve of the bar- 
rel. When in use, the hooks are 
placed beneath the lower chime of 
the barrel, one end of a short lever 
is placed in the eye, and the lever 
rests upon a block, which is set 
upon the head of a barrel properly placed in position. 
A strap or cord, with a loop or stirrup at one end, is 
fastened to the other end of the lever. The foot is 
placed in the loop or stirrup, and the weight of the body 
thrown upon it brings the head of the barrel into its 
place; the hands being free, the hoops can be driven down 
tightly without the help of an assistant. Without the 




BAUUEL-TIKADEU. 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 21 

use of the cord and stirrup, two persons are required to 
head barrels, but with the aid of these the services of 
one can be dispensed with. 



BUILDING RIBLESS BOATS. 

A method of building boats, by which ribs are dis- 
pensed with, has recently been brought into use for 
coast, lake, and river crafts. These boats are light, 
swift, strong, and cheap. They have been found to be 
remarkably good sea boats, and to stand rough weather 
without shipping water. By this method of building, 
fishermen and others who use boats can construct their 
own at their leisure, and in many cases become inde- 
pendent of the skill of the professional boat builder. 
The materials needed are clear pine boards, one inch 
thick, a keel of oak or elm, a stem and stern-post 
of the same timber, and some galvanized iron nails. 
For small boats the boards and keel should be the 
whole length of the boat intended to be built ; for 
boats over sixteen feet in length, splices may be 
made without injuring the strength, if they are prop- 
erly put together. The materials having been pro- 
cured, a frame or a set of tressels are made, and the keel 
is fitted to them in the usual manner, by means of 
cleats on each side, and wedges. The stem and stern- 
post are then fitted to the keel in the usual manner, the 
joints being made water-tight by means of layers of 
freshly-tarred brown paper laid between the pieces, or 
by the use of a coating of thick white lead and oil. 
Previously to being fitted together, the sides of the keel, 
stem, and stern-post are deeply grooved to receive the 
first strip of planking. The boards are then ripped into 
strips one inch, or an inch and a half wide, according 
to the desired strength of the boat. For rough work, 



32 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 




FARM CONVENIENCES. 23 

such as fishing with nets, or dredging, an inch and a 
half would be a proper width for the strips. The rip- 
ping may be done with one of the hand circular sawing 
machines, or at a saw-mill, with great rapidity. The 
first strip is then nailed to the keel, a coating of tar or 
white lead having first been given to the groove in the 
keel already prepared for it. The broad side of the 
strip is laid next to the keel. A set of molds, corre- 
sponding to the lines or form of the boat, are cut out of 
inch boards, and tacked to the keel in the manner shown 
in figure 10, with the help of cleats upon each side. 
Then one strijD after another is nailed to each preceding- 
one, and the shell of the boat is built up of these strips. 
Each strip is trimmed down at the ends in a proper 
manner, witli a drawn knife, or a plane, and as each one 
is nailed to the preceding one, some of the tar or white 
lead is brushed over it, to make the joint tight and close. 
A sufficient number of nails is used to hold the strips 
firmly together, and the heads are driven down level with 
the surface of each strip. The work proceeds in this 
manner, forming the strips as each is fitted, bending 
them to the shape of the molds, and nailing one alter- 
nately upon each side, so that the molds are not dis- 
placed by the spring of the timber. When the sides of 
the boat are completed, the fender and gunwales are 
fitted, and bolted to them to strengthen them, and 
cleats are bolted inside for the seats to rest upon. The 
molds are now removed, and the boat consists of a solid 
shell an inch and a half thick, with not a nail visible 
excepting on the top strip, and conforming exactly in 
shape to the model. To give extra strength, short pieces 
of the strips are nailed diagonally across the inside, from 
side to side, and across the keel. In this manner a 
great deal of additional stiffness and strength is given to 
the boat. A boat of this kind is easily repaired when 



24 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

injured, by cutting out the broken part and inserting 
pieces of the strips. For a larger boat, which requires 
a deck, the strips are wider and thicker, or a diagonal 
lining may be put into it ; knees are bolted to the sides, 
and the beams to the knees, the deck being laid upon 
the beams. The method is applicable to boats of all 
sizes and for all purposes, and its cheapness and con- 
venience are rapidly bringing it into favor. If the 
material is ready for use, two men can finish a large 
boat in two weeks, and a small one in one week. These 
boats being very light and buoyant, considerable ballast 
will be necessary to make them steady enough in case 
sails are used. 



TO MEND A BROKEN TUG. 

No one should go from home with a buggy or a 
wagon without a small coil of copper wire and a " ^nul- 
turn in parvo " pocket-knife. This knife, as its name 
implies, has many parts in a little space, and, among 
other useful things, has a contrivance for boring holes 
in leather straps. In case a strap or a leather trace 
breaks, while one is on a journey, and at a distance from 
any house, one would be in an awkward ^^ fix " if with- 
out any means of repairing damages. With the copj^er 
wire and an implement for boring some holes, repairs 
can be made in a very few minutes. The ends of the 
broken strap or tug may be laid over each other or 
spliced ; a few holes bored in the manner shown in fig- 
ure 11, and some stitches of wire passed through in the 
way known among the ladies as "back stitching.'' The 
ends of the wire are twisted together, and the job will be 
finished almost as quickly as this may be read. If it is 
a chain that breaks, the next links may be brought to- 
gether and wire wound around them in place of the 



FARM COKVEN^IEKCES. 25 

broken link, which will make the chain serviceable until 
home is reached. In fact, the uses of a piece of wire 
are almost endless. Nothing holds a l)utton upon one's 
working clothes so securely as a piece of wire, and once 
put on in this manner, there is never any call upon the 
women of the house at inconvenient times for thread 



Fig. 11. — REPAIRING TUG. 

and needle to replace it. The wire will pierce the cloth 
with6ut any help, and nothing more is needed than to 
pass it through each hole of the button and twist the 
ends to secure them, cutting them off close with a knife. 
There is scarcely any little thing that will be found of 
so great use about a farm, or a workshoj^, or in a mill, 
or even in a house, as a small stock of soft copper wire. 



BUSINESS HABITS. 

There is probably not one farmer in ten thousand who 
keeps a set of accounts from which he can at any mo- 
ment learn the cost of anything he may have produced, 
or even the cost of his real property. A very few farm- 
ers who have been brought up to business habits keep 
such accounts, and are able to tell how their affairs pro- 
gress, what each crop, each kind of stock, or each ani- 
mal has cost, and what each produces. Knowing these 
points, a farmer can, to a very great extent, properly de- 
cide what crops he will grow, and what kind of stock he 
will keep. He will thus be able to apply his labor and 
money where it will do the most good. He can weed 
out his stock and retain only such animals as may be 
kept with profit. For the want of such knowledge, 
2 



26 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

farmers continue, year after year, to feed cows that are 
unprofitable, and frequently sell for less than her value 
one that is the best of the herd, because she is not known 
to be any better than the rest. Feed is also wasted upon 
ill-bred stock, the keep of which costs three or four 
times that of well-bred animals, which, as has been 
proved by figures that cannot be mistaken, pay a large 
profit on their keeping. For want of knowing what 
they cost, poor crops are raised year by year at an actual 
loss, provided the farmer's labor, at the rates current for 
common labor, were charged against them. To learn 
that he has been working for fifty cents a day, during 
a number of years, while he has been paying his help 
twice as much, would open the eyes of many a farmer 
who has actually been doing this, and it would convince 
him that there is some value in figures and book ac- 
counts. It is not generally understood that a man who 
raises twenty bushels of corn per acre, pays twice as 
much for his plowing and harrowing, twice as much for 
labor, and twice as great interest upon the cost of his 
farm, as a neighbor who raises forty bushels per acre. 
Nor is it understood that when he raises a pig that 
makes one hundred and fifty pounds of pork in a year, 
that his pork costs him twice as much, or the corn he 
feeds brings him but half as much as that of his neigh- 
bor, whose pig weighs three hundred pounds at a year 
old. If all these tilings were clearly set down in figures 
upon a page in an account book, and were studied, there 
would be not only a sudden awakening to the unprofita- 
bleness of such farming, but an immediate remedy would 
be sought. For no person could resist evidence of this 
kind if it were once brought plainly home to him. If 
storekeepers, merchants, or manufacturers kept no ac- 
counts, they could not possibly carry on their business, 
and it is only because the farmer's business is one of the 



FARM COKVEN^IEN^CES. 



27 



most safe that he can still go on working in the dark, 
and throwing away opportunities of bettering his con- 
dition and increasing his profits. 



HAY-RACKS. 
We here ilhistrate two kinds of hay-racks, which have 




Fig. 12.— HAT-RACK. 

been found more conyenient in use than some of the old 




Fig. 13.— RACK FOR GRAIN. 

kinds. That shown in figure 12 consists of a frame made 



28 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 




FARM CONVEXIEXCES. 



29 



of scantlings, mortised together, and fitting upon the 
wagon after the box has been removed. Cross-pieces, 
which project over the wheels, are bolted to the frame, 
and to these one or two side-boards are bolted. A few 
short, sharpened stakes are fixed into the sides of the 
frame, which help to hold the load, and prevent it from 
slipping off from the rack during the loading. A strong 
rack of this kind may be made to carry a very large load 
of hay. We have seen over thirty hundred-weight loaded 
upon one of them, and more might 
have been easily added to the load. 
The plan of building this rack is 
readily seen by studying the engrav- 
ing. At figure 13 is shown a rack 
made to fit upon a wagon body. 
When grain is hauled, much is 
sometimes lost through the rack, by 
shelling. This is almost always the 
case in hauling ripe oats, and always 
in drawing buckwheat. To avoid 
this loss, we have used a strong 
wagon-box of rough planks, fitted with iron sockets, 
bolted securely to the sides. Into these sockets were 
fitted head and tail racks, as shown in the engraving. 
For the sides we procured natural crooks, shown in 
figure 14. 




Fig, 1-i.— SUPPORT FOB 
RACK. 



HOW TO EXTRICATE A MIRED ANIMAL.] 

An animal mired in a swamp gets into a worse pre- 
dicament the longer it struggles. The effort to extricate 
it should be made in an effective manner, so that the ani- 
mal may not be encouraged to exhaust itself in repeated ex- 
ertions, which are useless, and only sink it deeper in the 
mire. The usual method is to fasten a rope around the 



30 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

animal's horns or neck, and while this is i"mlled by some 
of the assistants, others place rails beneath the body of 
the animal for the purpose of lifting it ont of the hole. 
This plan is sometimes effective, but it often is not, and 
at best it is a slow, clumsy, and laborious method. The 
materials needed for the method here referred to are all 
that are required for a much better one, which is illus- 
trated in Figure 15. This is very simple, and two men 
can operate it, and, at a pinch, even one man alone may 
succeed with it. A strong stake or an iron bar is driven 
into the solid ground at a distance of twenty-five feet or 
more from the mired animal. Two short rails, about 
nine feet long, are tied together near the ends, so that 
they can be spread apart in the form of a pair of shears, 
for hoisting. A long rope is fastened around the horns 
or neck of the animal, with such a knot that the loop 
cannot be drawn tight enough to do any injury. The 
rope is cast over the ends of the rails as they are set up 
ujDon the edge of the solid ground, and carried to the 
stake or crow-bar beyond. The end of the rope is fast- 
ened to a stout hand-spike, leaving about a foot of the 
end of it free. This end is laid against the bar or stake, 
and the other end is moved around it so that the rope is 
wound upon it, drawing it up and with it drawing the 
animal out of the mire. The rope being held up by the 
tied rails, tends to lift the animal and make its extrica- 
tion very easy. 



HOW TO SAVE AND KEEP MANURE. 

There is no question more frequently or seriously con- 
sidered by the farmer, than how he shall get, keep, and 
spend an adequate supply of manure ; nor is there any- 
thing about the farm Avhich is of greater importance 
to its successful management than the manure heap. 



FARM COJTVENIEiTCES. 31 

There are few farmers now left who pretend to ignore 
this feed for the land ; and few localities, even in the 
newer Western States, where manure now is thought to 
be a nuisance. We have gradually come to the inevitable 
final end of our '^virgin farms/' and have now either to 
save what is left of their wonderful natural fertility, or 
to restore them slowly and laboriously to a profitable 
condition. We have reached the end of our tether, and 
are obliged to confess that we have trespassed over the 
line which bounds the territory of the locust, or have 
improved the face of the country so much that, the pro- 
tecting timber being removed, the water supply is be- 
coming precarious, and springs, brooks, and rivers no 
longer flow as they did heretofore. To some extent the 
tide of emigration, which has flowed westward so many 
years, is now eddying or even ebbing, and the cheap, 
worn lands of the East are finding purchasers, who un- 
dertake to bring them back to their former condition. 
At the same time Eastern farmers are discovering more 
and more certainly that they must increase their crops, 
and make one acre produce as much as two have hereto- 
fore done. The only way in which either of these classes 
can succeed, is by keeping sufficient stock to manure 
their farms liberally ; to feed these animals so skillfully 
and well that they shall pay for their feed with a profit, 
and in addition leave a supply of rich manure, with 
which the soil can be kept in a productive state, and to 
save and use the manure with such care that no liarticle 
of it be lost. It is not every farmer who can procure all 
the manure he needs ; but very many can save what 
they have, with far greater economy than they now do ; 
and this, although it may seem a question secondary to 
that of getting manure, is really of primary importance ; 
for by using what one has to better purpose, he opens a 
way to increase his supply. We have found this to be 



32 FARM COKVEiq^IEI^CES. 

the case in our own exjoerience, and by strict attention 
to saving and preserving every particle of manure in its 
best condition, we liave succeeded in so enlarging our 
supply of fodder that the number of stock that could be 
fed was largely increased each year, and very soon it was 
necessary to go out and buy animals to consume the sur- 
plus. To bring a farm into improved condition, there 
is no cheaper or more effective method than this. 

The ordinary management of manure, in open barn- 
yards, where it is washed by rains, dried by the sun's 
scorching heat, and Avasted by every wind that blows, is 
the worst that is possible. In this way half or more of 
the value of the manure is lost. By figuring up what 
it would cost to purchase a quantity of manure equal to 
what is thus lost, the costliness of this common method 
Avould be discovered, and the question hoAv much could 
be afforded to take care of the manure would be settled. 
When properly littered, one cow or ox will make a ton 
of manure every month, if the liquid as well as the solid 
portion is saved. Ten head would thus make one hun- 
dred and tv/enty tons, or sixty two-horse wagon loads 
in a year. A pair of horses Avill make as much manure 
as one cow, or twelve tons in the year. A hundred sheep, 
if yarded every night and well littered, will make one 
hundred tons of manure in the year, and ten pigs will 
work up a wagon load in a month, if supplied with 
sufficient coarse material. The stock of a one hundred 
acre farm, which should consist of at least ten cows, ten 
head of steers, heifers, and calves, a pair of horses, one 
hundred sheep, and ten pigs, would then make, in the 
aggregate, three hundred and sixteen tons of manure 
every year, or sufficient to give twelve tons per acre every 
fourth year. If this were well cared for, it would be, in 
effect, equal to double the quantity of ordinary yard 
manure ; and if a plenty of swamp muck could be pro- 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



33 



cured, at least six hundred tons of the best manure could 
be made upon a one hundred acre farm. If this were 
the rule instead of a rare exception, or only a possibility, 
what a change would appear upon the face of the coun- 
try, and what an addition would be made to the vv^ealth 
of the nation ! 



GRINBINa TOOLS. 



The useful effect of many tools depends greatly upon 
the exact grinding of their edges to a proper bevel. A 
cold chisel, for instance, requires an edge of a certain 




DEVICE FOR GRINDING MILL- PICKS. 



bevel to cut hard metal, and one of a different angle for 
softer metal; the harder the work to be cut, the greater 
should be the angle formed by the edge, and the softer 
the material, the more acute the edge. The same rule 

2^ 



34 



FARM COKVEKIENCES. 



is to be observed in wood-cutting tools. But there are 
no tools which require more exact and careful grinding 
than mill-picks, and tlie first business of a miller is to 
know how to grind his jncks. Upon this depends the 
dress of tlie stones, and the quality of work turned out 
by them. Figure IG represents a small grindstone for 
sharpening picks, which is run by means of friction 
wheels covered with leather, and provided with a gauge 
for setting the pick at a variable angle to the stone. 
This gauge, shown in the engraving, is so serviceable as 
to be well worth a place in any farm workshop. It con- 
sists of a series of steps raised upon a slotted plank, 
which is screwed upon the frame of the grindstone. By 
means of the slot and a set screw, seen below the pick, 
the gauge can be set for tools of different lengths, and 
each step causes the tool set in it to be ground at a dif- 
ferent angle. 



A METHOD OF HANGING HOGS. 

An easy method of hanging a hog or a beef, is by the 
use of the tripod shown in figure 17. It is made of 
three by three oak scantling, six 
feet long, connected at one end, in 
the manner shown, by means of an 
iron bar one inch thick, passed 
through a hole bored in each piece. 
The two outside pieces are fastened 
together by two cross-pieces, bolted 
to them, so that they are spread 
at the bottom sufficiently, which 
would be about three feet. A hook 
is fastened to the lower cross-piece, 
upon which the hog is suspended. 

Fig. 17.-TRIP0D SET UP. T^ |^,^^g ^i^g j^^g ^l^g f^,^j^^ -g i^-(j 

upon the ground with the hog between the outside 




FARM COKVEKIENCES. 35 

legs, the third leg being drawn backwards. The hog is 
hooked by the gambrel stick to the cross-piece, the frame 
is lifted up, and the hinder leg is spread out so as to sup- 
port it, as shown in figure 17. The frame may be lowered 
easily when the hog has to be taken down, and as the 
frames are cheaply made, and occupy little room, it will 
be well to have several of them. They may be made to 
serve other useful purposes. 



RELIEF FOR BOG-SPAVIN AND THOROUGH-PIK 

Bog-spavin, and thorough-pin, which are in reality 
the same disease, differing in position only, and that very 
slightly, may be considered as incurable. But like many 
chronic disorders, they may be very much relieved by 
proper methods. They are caused by an inflammatory 
condition of the synovial membrane of the hock joint, 
and are chiefly located in the vicinity of the junction 
of the bones of the leg, or the capsule between the tibia 
and the astragalus. This inflammation may be primarily 
caused by sudden shocks, or by continued strains from 
hard work, and the troubles are common among those 
horses which are of a lymphatic constitution, soft boned, 
or hereditarily subject to scrofulous or inflammatory con- 
ditions. They are also found lower down the leg, in 
which case they are the result of inflammation of the 
sheath of the tendons. They do not always cause lame- 
ness, except when the horse is first brought from the 
stable, and after a short time the stiffness may pass 
away. At other times there is great heat and tenderness 
in the parts, and the animal is decidedly lame. The 
best treatment is by cold applications and pressure upon 
the part. Blistering, which is sometimes resorted to, 
generally increases the trouble, and may cause a perma- 
nent thickening of the tissues, and a stiff joint. Pres- 



ao 



FARM COKVEl^IEXCES. 



sure is best applied by a sort of truss, or strap, provided 
with a single pad in case of spavin or wind-gall, or 
double pads in case of thorough-pin, which is sim- 
ply a spavin or wind-gall, so placed 
that the liquid which is gathered in 
the sac or puff may be pressed be- 
tween the tendons or joint, and made 
to appear on the o2)posite side of the 
leg. In this case it is obviously 
necessary to apply the pressure upon 
both sides of the leg, and a double 
pad strap will be needed, of the 
form shown in figure 18. A com- 
mon broad leather strap, lined with 
flannel, or chamois leather, to pre- 
vent chafing, is used ; pads of soft 
Fig. 18. -SPAVIN PAD. leather, stuffed with wool, are sewn 
to the strap, and the exact spots where the pressure is 
to bear, disks of several thicknesses of soft leather or 
rubber are affixed. The pads must necessarily be made 
to fit each individual case, as success will depend uj^on 
their properly fitting the limb. The pads should be 
worn continually until the swelling disappears, and 
meanwhile, at least twice daily, the parts should be 
bathed for some time with cold water, and cloths wetted 
with cold water, with which a small quantity of ether 
has been mixed, should be bound around the parts, and 
the pads buckled over them so tightly as to exert a con- 
siderable pressure. Absolute rest is necessary while the 
animal is under tliis treatment. 




TOOL-BOXES FOR WAGONS, ETC. 

To go from home with a wagon without taking a few 
tools, is to risk a break-down from some unforeseen acci- 




FARM CONVEKIEKCES. 37 

dent, without the means of repairing it, and perhaps a 
consequent serious or costly delay. Those who do busi- 
ness regularly upon the roads, as those who haul lumber, 
wood, coal, or ores of different 
kinds, should especially be pro- 
vided with a set of tools, as a reg- 
ular appurtenance to the wagon, 
and the careful farmer in going Fig. ly.— wagon box. 
to market or the mill, or even to and fro upon the farm, 
should be equally well provided. We have found by 
experience that a break-down generally happens in the 
worst possible place, and where it is most difficult to 
help one's self. The loss of so simple a thing as a nut or 
a bolt may wreck a loaded wagon, or render it impossi- 
ble to continue the journey, or some breakage by a sud- 
den jerk upon a rough road may do the same. It is 
safe to be provided for any event, and the comfort of 
knowing that he is thus provided greatly lightens a 
man's labor. At one time, when we had several wagons 
and teams at work upon the road, we provided the fore- 
man's wagon with a box such as is here described, and 
it was in frequent use, saving a considerable outlay that 
would otherwise have been necessary for repairs, besides 
much loss of valuable time. It was a box about eight- 
een inches long, sixteen inches wide, and six inches deep, 
divided into several compartments. It was supplied 
with a spare king-bolt, a hammer-strap, wrench, some 
staples, bolts, nuts, screws, a screw-driver, a hammer, 
cold-chisel, wood-chisel, punch, pincers, a hoof-pick, 
copper rivets, a roll of copper wire, a knife heavy and 
strong enough to cut down a small sapling, a roll of 
narrow hoop-iron, some cut and wrought nails, and such 
other things as experience proved to be convenient to 
have. The shape of the box is shown in figure 19. The 
middle of the top is fixed, and on each side of it is a lid 



38 FARM CONVENIEl^CES. 

hinged to it, and which is fastened by a hasj) and staple, 
and a padlock or a spring key. The box is suspended to 
the wagon reach, beneath the box or load, by two strong 
leather straps with common buckles. Being only six 
inches deep, it is not in the way of anything, and is 
readily accessible when wanted. 



MAKING A HINGE. 

A gate with a broken hinge is a very forlorn object, 
and one that declares to every passer-by, "here lives a 
poor farmer." If there is one thing more than another 
worthy of note and a cause of congratulation in this one 
hundredth year of the existence of the United States, it 
is the infinite number of small conveniences with which 
we are supplied, every one of which adds to the sum of 
our daily comfort. More than this, the majority of 
these little things, which are in use all over the w^orld, 
are the inventions and productions of Americans. So 
plentifully are we supplied with these small conveniences, 
that we cannot turn our eyes in any direction without 
coming across some of them. It is these small matters 
Avliich enable us to have so many neat and pleasant 
things about our homes, at so little cost of money, time, 
or labor. One of the greatest of the small conveniences 
around the farm, or the mechanic's rural home, is the 
small forge. To make a gate-hinge with the help of 
this portable forge is a very easy thing. We take a 
piece of half-inch square bar-iron, as long as may be 
needed, and heating one end, round it for an inch or 
two ; then, heating the other end, flatten it out gradually 
to a point for the same length, and bend it over a 
mandrel, or the nose of an anvil, into the shape shown 



FARM CONVEKIENCES. 39 

in figure 20. We then cut off a piece of round half-inch 
bar, about t\yo inches long, and 
drive it into the loop, tightening 
the loop around it as mnch as pos- ^^^- ^^* 

sible. The loop-end is then brought to a welding heat, 
and the joint closed around the pin, and neatly worked 
smooth with the hammer. Another piece of square iron 
is then taken, and worked at each end the same as the 
first one, the loop, however, is worked open upon a piece 
of cold |-inch round bar, so that it will be large enough 
to work easily upon the pin of the first piece. A thread 
may now be cut upon the round ends, or they may be 
riveted over a piece of iron plate, or a large washer, 
when they are driven through the gate-post and the 
heel-post of the gate. It is best, however, to have a 
screw-thread and a nut, using a washer under each nut, 
to prevent the wood from being crushed. The whole 
then appears as at figure 21, and is a hinge that cannot 
easily be broken or worn out. In 



boring the holes for a hinge of this 

kind, a bit or an auger of only 

^. ^, half-an-inch diameter should be 

Fig. 21. 

used, so that the edges of the iron 
should cut their own way into the wood, and when the 
hinges are driven, a piece of hard wood should be laid 
upon the ends that are struck, so that they will not be 
battered by the hammer. Care must be exercised to 
have them driven in squarely, so that the gate may 
swing without binding on the hinges. For lighter 
hinges, the same sized iron may be used, but the ends 
should be hammered out to a point, and the 
should be notched or bearded with a 
cold-chisel, as shown at figure 23. 
These may be driven into a post ^''"- ^'"^• 

very readily, if a hole smaller than the iron be bored to 





40 



FARM CONVEKIEKCES. 



lead the way, and when driven in, will not be easily 
drawn out. When it is necessary to draw a hinge out 
of a post or gate, that has become rusted in, or that lias 
been very tightly driven, it may easily be done by boring 
a hole above it, or on one side of it, or beneath it, a 
little larger than the iron, and then forcing it into the 
hole by means of a wooden wedge driven close to it. It 
will then be loose, and may easily be taken out without 
difficulty. 



SHELTER FOR THE HEAD. 

Many a severe headache, and a restless night after an 
exhausting day's work in the harvest field, might be 
prevented by the use of some simple precautions. The 
sun beats down upon the head and neck with great 
force, when the thermometer marks ninety degrees and 
over in the shade, and the scorching effect of a heat of 
one hundred and twenty degrees in the direct sunshine 
is both uncomfortable and dangerous to the health. 
The head should be protected in such cases by wearing 
a straw hat, or one of some open 
material, with a broad brim, and 
by placing a leaf of cabbage or let- 
tuce, or a Avetted cambric handker- 
chief in the crown of it. The very 
sensitive back of the head and neck 
is best protected by means of a 
white handkerchief fastened by one 
border to the hat-band, figure 23, 
and the rest made to hang down 
loosely over the neck and shoul- 
ders. The neck is thus shaded 
from the sun's rays, and the loosely 
flapping handkerchief causes a constant current of air to 




Fig. 23.— XECK-PKO- 

TECTOR. 



FARM COKVENIENCES. 



41 



pass around and cool the neck and head. We have 
found this to be a most comfortable thing to wear, and 
its value as a protector to the base of the brain and the 
spinal marrow is so well known in hot countries, that the 
use of a similar protection is made imperative in armies 
when on the march. 



HOW TO LEVEL WITH SQUARE AND PLUMB-LINE. 

The common carpenter's square and a plumb-line may 
be made to serve as a substitute for the spirit level for 
many purposes on the farm or elsewhere, when a level 
is not at hand. The manner of getting the square in 
position to level a wall, for instance, is shown in figure 




Fii;. 24.— MANNER OF LEVELLING A WALL. 

24. A piece of board, three feet in length, having one 
end sharpened, is driven into the ground for a rest ; a 
notch is made in the top of the stick large enough to 
hold the square firmly in position, as shown in the en- 
graving. A line and weight, held near the short arm, 
and parallel to it, will leave the long arm of the square 
level. By sighting over the top of the square, any irreg- 



42 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



ularities in the object to be levelled arc readily discovered. 
A method to find the number of feet in a descent in the 
ground is illustrated by figure 25. The square is placed 
as before directed ; then a sight is taken over and along 
the u^^per edge of the square to a pole or rod placed at a 



U 

3 
Z 



,(JaJ^! 




^^i^: 



Fig. 25.— MEASUUING A SLOPE WITU A SQUARE. 

desired point. The point on the pole which is struck 
by the line of sight shows the difference between the 
levels of the two places. This method will be found ap- 
plicable in laying out drains, where a certain desired fall 
is to be given to the ditch. 



KEEP THE CATTLE UNDER COVER, 

Even now, in some of the newer regions of the West, 
the easiest way to get rid of the manure is considered 
the best. The English farmers have long been obliged 
to feed farm animals largely for the fertilizers they yield, 
and this has proved that covered yards are the most 
economical. These covers are not so expensive as might 
be supposed at first thought. Substantial sheds, large 
enough to accommodate a hundred head of cattle, may 
be built at a cost all the way from $1,000 to 11,500, 



FAEM CONVENIENCES. 43 

according to the locality and price of labor and lumber. 
The roof may be made with three ridge poles resting 
upon outside walls, and two rows of pillars. There 
should be ample provision for yentilation and the escape 
of the water falling upon the roof. The original cost 
will not be many dollars per head, and the interest on 
this will represent the yearly cost. If this should be 
placed at tv/o dollars for each animal, it will be seen 
that this outlay is more than repaid by the increased 
value of the housed manure over that made in the open 
yard, and exposed to the sun and drenching rains. The 
saving in food consequent upon the warm protection of 
the animals has. been carefully estimated to be at least 
one-tenth the whole amount consumed. In the saving 
alone, the covered yard gives a handsome return upon 
the investment. 



WATERING PLACES FOR STOCK ON LEVEL LAND. 

It is frequently the case that there are underdrains of 
living water jiassing through level fields, in which there 
is no water available for stock. In such a case, a simple 




Fig. 26. — takimjt \\ \.iLk iKuM LM>i:.KDK vm. 

plan for bringing the water to the surface is shown in 
figures 26 and 27, in which is indicated an underdrain 
of stone or tile ; a pipe of two-inch bore of wood or 
tile, and about 15 feet in length, is laid level with the 
bottom of the drain, and connecting with a box one foot 
or more square sunk into the ground. If the soil be 



44 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



soft, the box is surrounded with stones as shown. A low 
place or small hollow at some point along the drain is 
selected for the watering box, or, should the land be 





Fi2,. 27. — TiiL ^^AlLKl^o ilacl 



nearly level, then with plow and scraper an artificial 
hollow is soon made at any point desired. Two fields 
may be thus easily watered by making the box two feet in 
length, and placing it so that the fence will divide it. 



A SHAVING-HORSE. 



The shingle-horse, shown in figure 28, is made of 
a plank ten feet long, six inches wide, and an inch and 




Fisr. 28.— SHAVING-HORSE FOR SHINGLES. 



a half thick. A slot is cut through this plank, and a 
lever, made of a natural crook, is hinged into it. A 
wooden spring is fixed behind the lever, and is fastened 



FARM COJ^VENIEiq^CES. 



45 



to it by a cord. This pulls back the lever when the foot 
is removed from the step beneath. The horse may have 
four legs, but two will be sufficient, if the rear end is 
made to rest upon the ground. Figure 29 is made of a 
plank, six feet long, ten inches wide, and two inches 
thick. Four legs, two feet long, are fixed in inch and a 
half holes, as shown below. A bench, eighteen inches 




Fig. 29. — HORSE FOR GENERAL USE. 

long, eight and a half inches wide, and an inch and 
a half thick, is fixed upon the horse. A slot, eight 
by one and a half inches, is cut through the bench and 
the plank, and the lever, two feet eight inches long, is 
fixed in this by means of a pin passing through the 
bench. Some extra holes are made in the lever, by 
which the height of the head above the bench may be 
changed to suit different sizes of work. A head is put 
upon the lever, six inches square each way, but bevelled 
off at the front. The foot-board, five by ten inches, is 
fastened to the bottom of the lever by a strong pin. 



A MILKING-STOOL. 



The front of the stool (figure 30) is hollowed to re- 
ceive the pail, which is kept in its place by a wire, fixed 
as shown in the engraving. The front leg has a pro- 



46 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

jecting rest upon which the bottom of the pail is placed 
to keep it from the ground, and also from breaking 




Fig. 30. — A MILKING-STOOL. 

away the wire by its weight. The milker may either sit 
astride of this stool, or sideways npon it. 



HOW TO TREAT THRUSH. 

Thrush is a disease of the horse's hoof, quite common 
in this country. It results oftener from neglect in the 
stables than from any other cause. The symptoms are 
fetid odor and morbid exudation from the frog, accom- 
panied with softening of the same. A case recently 
came under our observation. A young carriage horse, 
used mostly on the road, and kept in the stable through 
the year, showed lameness in the left fore foot one morn- 
ing after standing idle in the stable all the previous day. 
On removing the shoe, and examining the hoof, a fetid 
odor was observed. The stable was examined, when the 
sawdust used for bedding was found to be saturated with 
urine. The stable was cleaned immediately. Dry saw- 
dust was placed in the stall, and a few sods packed in 
the space where the horse usually rested his fore feet. 
The lameness diminished without medical treatment. 



FARM CONVEN'IEXCES. 47 

and in ten days disappeared altogether. A bedding of 
sawdust or earth, covered with straw or leaves, promotes 
the comfort of the horse, but it needs w^atching and 
systematic renewing. The limit of the absorbing power 
of the driest soil, or sawdust, is soon reached. If a 
horse is kept most of the time in the stable, his bedding 
soon becomes wet, and unfit for his use. It is all the 
better for the compost heap, and for the horse, to have 
frequent renewals of absorbments of some kind, that 
fermentation may not be in jDrogress under his hoofs. 
The proper place for this fermentation is in the compost 
heap. Too often the care of the horse is left to a servant 
without experience in the stable, and the result is per- 
manent disease in the hoofs and legs of the horse. This 
is most certainly one of the cases in which " an ounce 
of prevention is worth a pound of cure." 



A WESTERN LOCUST TRAP. 

A great many devices have been used for the destruc- 
tion of the locusts in those Western States where they 
have done so much mischief for a few years past. 
AVhether the locusts are to remain as a permanent pest 
to the Western farmers, or not, remains to be proved. 
It is certain, however, that through some effects of the 
climate, the attacks of parasitic enemies, their consump- 
tion by birds and other animals, and by the efforts of the 
farmers themselves, the locusts have of late been greatly 
reduced in numbers, and their depredations have become 
almost inconsiderable. Many methods have been adopted 
for their destruction. Rolling the ground ; plowing fur- 
rows, and making pits in them in w^hich the insects are 
caught ; burning them in long piles of dry grass ; catch- 
ing them in large sacks, and upon frames smeared with 



48 FARM COKVENIEiq^CES. 

gas tar, and upon large sheet-iron pans containing burn- 
ing fuel ; all these have been tried with more or less 
success, as well as the negative means of diverting them 
from their course by means of thick smoke from smoth- 
ered fires of prairie hay. A most effective method is 
one invented by a woman in Minnesota. This consists 
of a large strip of sheet-iron, figure 31, from ten to 
thirty feet long, turned up a few inches at the ends and 
one side ; a wire is fixed to each end, or at proper places 
in the front, by wliicli it can be drawn over the ground 
by a pair of horses or oxen. A light chain or rope is 
fixed so as to drag upon the ground a foot in advance of 




^' /''^'^r f/f''^'/'/^'r//» :/,.,// J,,, ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
Fig. 31.— TRAP FOR CATCHING LOCUSTS. 

the front of the sheet- iron, by which the locusts are dis- 
turbed and made to jump, and as the machine is moving 
on at the same time, they drop ujoon it. A thick coat 
of gas-tar is smeared over the surface of the iron, in 
which the locusts are imbedded and stick fast. The vig- 
orous kicking of the trapped insects helps to keep the 
mass stirred up, and present a sticky surface. AVhen 
the trap is full, the locusts are raked off into a pile, and 
set on fire and consumed. This machine can be drawn 
over young wheat without injury, as it is not heavy 
enough to break it down, and being flexible, conforms 
to the surface of the ground it is passing over. The en- 
graving shows the manner of preparing the sheet-iron 
for this purpose. The season when the locusts have 



FARM COXVEXIEXCES. 



49 



formerly damaged the newly sprouted wheat is in the 
spring, and it will be useful for many Western farmers to 
know of this cheap and effective method, which is not 
patented, and for which they may thank a farmer's wife 
of more than usual ingenuity and habits of observa- 
tion. 



SPREADING MANURE. 

The winter is a good season for spreading manure. 
It is immaterial whether the ground is covered with 
snow or not, or whether it is frozen or soft, provided it is 
not too soft to draAV loads over, and that the ground is 
not upon a steep hill-side, from which the manure may 
be washed by heavy rains or by sudden thaws. We 
have spread manure upon our fields several winters, 
and always with advantage, not only in saving labor and 
time, but also to the crops grown after it, more espe- 
cially to oats and potatoes. In spreading the manure, it 




WAGON WITH KAISED BOX. 



is the best to drop it in heaps, leaving it to be spread by 
a man as soon as possible afterv/ards. This may be done 
most readily by using a manure hook, with which the 
manure is drawn out of the sled or wagon-box. Slcping 



50 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

Yv'agon-beds are used for hauling various heavy materials, 
and v'hy should they not be used for this, tlie heaviest 
and most bulky load a farmer has to handle ? A wagon, 
having the box raised (figure 32), so that the forward 
wheels could pass beneath it, would be very convenient 
on a farm. It could be turned in its own length, and 
handled with vastly greater facility than the ordinary 
farm wagon, which needs a large yard to be turned in. 
Such a wagon could be unloaded with great ease and 




Fiji. 33. — :mannek of si'heading. 

very rapidly by the use of the hook, and in case it was 
desired to spread the load broadcast from the wagon, 
that could be done perfectly well. But to do this keeps 
the horses idle the greater part of the time, and is an 
unprofitable practice. Two teams hauling will keep one 
man busy in the yard helping to load, and another in 
the field spreading ; the work will then go on without 
loss of time. In dropping the heaps, they may be left 
in rows, one rod apart, and one rod apart in the row ; 
each load being divided into eight heaps. This will give 
twenty loads per acre. If ten loads only are to bespread, 
the rows should be one rod apart, and the heaps two 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 51 

rods apart m the rows. In spreading the manure, it 
should be done evenly, and the heaps should not be 
made to overlap. If there is one heap to the square rod, 
it should be thrown eight feet each way from the centre, 
covering a square of sixteen and one half feet, as shown in 
figure 33. One heap then is made to join up to another, 
and the whole ground is equally manured. There is 
more in this point than is generally supposed by farm- 
ers, many of whom are careless and wasteful in this re- 
spect, giving too much in some places, and too little in 
others. The consequence is uneven growth over the 
field, rusted grain, or perhaps laid straw in some places, 
and in others a half-starved crop. Another important 
point in spreading is, to break up the lumps, and scatter 
the fine manure. Unless this is done, the field cannot 
be evenly fertilized. There is work about this, whicli 
would tempt some hired men to neglect it, but it should 
not only be insisted upon, but looked to, and its per- 
formance insured. 



PUTTING AWAY TOOLS. 

The wearing out of farm implements is, as a rule, due 
more to neglect than to use. If tools can be well taken 
care of, it -will pay to buy those made of the best steel, 
and finished in the best manner ; but in common hands, 
and with common care, such are of little advantage. 
Iron and steel parts should be cleaned with dry sand and 
a cob, or scraped with a piece of soft iron, washed and 
oiled if necessary, and in a day or two cleaned off wdth 
the corn-cob and dry sand. Finally, paint the iron part 
with rosin and beeswax, in the proportion of four of 
rosin to one of wax, melted together and applied hot. 
This is good for the iron or steel parts of every sort of 
tool. 



52 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



Wood-work should be painted with good, boiled, linseed 
oil, white lend and turpentine, colored of any desired 
tint ; red is probably the best color. Keep the cattle 
away until the paint is dry and hard, or they will lick, 
w^ith death as the result. If it is not desired to use paint 
on hand tools, the boiled oil, wdth turpentine and ''liquid 
drier," does just as well. Many prefer to saturate the 
wood-work of farm implements with crude petroleum. 
This cannot be used with color, but is applied by itself, 
so long as any is absorbed by the pores of the wood. 



SELF-CLOSING DOORS. 



A self-opening, rolling door is shown in figure 34. A 
half-inch rope, attached to a staple driven into the upper 
edge of the door, passes parallel with the track, and be- 

(1 ' 




Fig. 34. — SELF-CLOSING SLIDING DOOR. 

yond the boundary of the door when open, over a small 
grooved pulley and thence downward ; a weight is at- 
tached to its end. The door is shown closed, and the 
weight drawn up. As the door is a self-fastening one, 
when the fastening is disengaged the weight will draw 
the door open. By a string or wire connected to the 



FARM CO>^VEKIE]N^CES. 



53 



fastening, the door may be opened while standing at any 
part of the building, or if one 
end be attached to a post outside, 
near the carriage way, the door 
may be opened without leaving 
the vehicle, a desirable plan, espe- 
cially during inclement weather. 
The weight and pulleys should 
be located inside the building, 
but are shown outside to make 
the plan more readily understood. 
By attaching the rope to the op- 
posite side of the door, it may be 
made self-closing instead of self- ^'^- ^s.-s wing-door. 
opening, as thought most convenient. The manner of 
closing a swing-door, as in figure 35, is so clearly shown 
as to need no description. 




VENTILATORS FOR FODDER STACKS. 

The perfect curing of fodder corn is difficult, even 
with the best appliances ; as usually done, the curing is 
very imperfect. The fodder corn crop is one that merits 
not only the best preparation of 
the ground and the best culture, 
but it is worthy of special care 
ia harvesting and curing. The 
French farmers are giving much 
attention to this crop, and by 
good culture are raising most 
extraordinary and very profit- 
able yields. Seventy tons per 
acre is not unfrequently grown by the best farmers. We 
do not average more than eight tons per acre, yet with 




Fig. 36.— FRAME. 



54 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



US the corn crop may be grown under the most faTorable 
circumstances. In a few instances, a yield of thirty tons 
per acre lias been reached by one farmer, but this is the 
highest within our knowledge. One of the most prom- 
inent defects in ordinary American agriculture is, the 
neglect with which this easily grown and very valuable 
crop is treated ; and one of the most promising improve- 
ments in our advancing system of culture is, the attention 
now being given to fodder corn. A drawback under 
which we labor is the difficulty of curing such heavy 
and succulent herbage ; this, however, will by and by 
be removed, both by the adoption of the French system 
of ensilage, and by better methods of drying the fodder. 
On the whole, the system of ensilage offers by far the 
greatest advantages ; the fodder 
being preserved in a fresh and suc- 
culent condition, and the labor of 
preparing the silos, cutting the 
stalks, and properly protecting 
them from the atmosphere, being 
actually no more than that of dr}"- 
ing the crop in the usual manner, 
rtoring it in stacks, and cutting it 
afterwards for use when it is needed. 
It is impossible, however, that 
even the best improvements can 
be introduced otherwise than slow- 
ly and with caution ; the old sys- 
tem, although it may be less 
effective and profitable than the 
Fig. 37.— VENTILATOR, ncw, Will bo long retained by 
many ; and even in the old methods improvements are 
being made from season to season by the ingenuity of 
farmers. We recently saw a very simple but useful ar- 
rangement for the ventilation of stacks, and mows in 




FARM CONVENIENCES. 55 

barns, which is applicable to the curing of corn fodder. 
It consists of a frame, figure 36, made of strips of wood, 
put together with small carriage bolts. The strips may 
be made of chestnut, pine, or hemlock, the first being 
the most durable and best, two inches wide and one inch 
thick. The illustration shows how these strips are put 
together. The length of the section shown may be three 
or four feet. In figure 37 is seen the manner in which 
the sections are put together. A small stack may have 
a column of these ventilators in the centre ; a large one 
may have three or four of them ; in a mow in the barn, 
there may be as many as are needful, two or three, or 
more, as the case may be. When made in this shape, 
they are so portable, and easy to use, that the greatest 
objections against ventilators are removed. In stacking 
fodder corn, it is safest to make the stacks small. Three 
of these sections, placed together in one column, are 
sufiicient for a stack contaiiiing three tons, and which 
would be about fourteen feet high. The sheaves should 
be small, and the stack somewhat open at the bottom, 
so as to freely admit currents of air. The top of the 
stack should be well protected to keep out the rain ; a 
hay cap fastened over the top would be very effective 
for this. If a quantity of dry straw could be thrown in 
between the bundles, and on the top of each layer of 
them, the perfect curing of the fodder would be then 
secured. 



CORN-MARKER FOR UNEVEN GROUND. 

The corn-marker, shown in figure 38, is so construct- 
ed that it will readily accommodate itself to uneven 
ground. It consists of two pieces of plank, these form 
the middle set of runners. Upon these pin two straight 
pieces of two by four scantling, with each end project- 



56 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



ing over the runner six inches ; through these ends are 
bored holes for a four-inch rod. Two other pieces of 
plank, like the former, are procured, and one end of two 
other pieces of scantling are pinned to each runner ; then 
these beams are connected to the middle pair by the 




bolts, as seen in the engraving, so that, while one runner 
is on high ground, the other may be in the land furrow. 
In turning around, the two outside runners may be 
turned up against the seat. 



A HOME-MADE HARROW. 

The harrow, figure 39, is a square one. The teeth 
are set twelve inches from centre to centre, each way. 
There are four beams in each half, and five teeth in each 
beam. These beams are four feet eight inches long, 
mortised into the front piece, which is three feet seven 
inches in length. The rear ends of the beam are se- 
cured by a piece of tim.ber, two by one and a half inches, 
halved on to the beams and then bolted. The harrow 
is made of two and a half by two and a half-inch scant- 
lings using locust wood, because of its great durability 
and firmness. There is notliing particularly new about 
this harrow, except that it is larger than common, and 
the novel way of hitching to it by which it is kept steady. 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 57 

The teeth can be made to cut six inches or one inch 
apart. The manner of hitching is shown in the engrav- 
ing. The draw-bar is made of three-eighths by one and 
three-quarter iron, three feet four inches in length. 




39. — AN EXCELLENT HA.RKOW. 



The chain is attached to this by a hook at one end, the 
other being fastened to the harrow by a staple. The 
chain is about two feet long. The entire cost is about 
twelve dollars. 



CLEARING LAND BY BLASTING. 

The explosive used is dynamite or giant powder. It 
is a mixture of nitro-glycerine with some absorbents, by 
which this dangerously explosive liquid is made into a 
perfectly safe solid substance, of a consistence and ap- 
pearance not unlike light-brown sugar. It is not 
possible to explode dynamite by ordinary accident, nor 
even by the application of a lighted match. A quantity 
of it placed upon a stump and fired with a lighted 
match, burns away very nmch as a piece of camphor 
or resin would do, with little flame but much smoke, 
and boils and bubbles until only a crust is left. There 
is not the least danger, therefore, of igniting the pow- 
3^ 



58 



FARM CONVEX! ENCES. 



der dangerously, until properly placed for the blast. In 
this resj)ect it has a very great advan- 
tage over ordinary blasting powder, 
which may be exploded by a spark. 
The powder, as it is manufactured, is 
made into cartridges about eight 
inches in length, and of any required 
diameter. The cartridges are wrap- 
ped in strong parchment paper, cover- 
ed with paraffine, and the true form 
is shown at figure 40. They are fired 
by a cap (also in figure 40), which is 
inserted into the end of the cartridge. 
The fuse, which is of the common 
kind, is inserted into the open end 
of the cap, which is pinched close upon it with a small 
pair of pliers, so as to hold it firmly. The cartridge 




Fig. 40. Fig. 41. 




g. 42.— THE STUMl^ UEFOliE THE EXPLOSION. 



is then opened at one end, the cap with the fuse at- 
tached inserted, and the paper tied tightly around the 



T 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 59 

fuse, with a piece of twine. Tlie cartridge ready for 
firing is shown at figure 41. 

Our first operation was upon a green white-oak stump, 
thirty inches in diameter, with roots deeply bedded in 
the ground. To have cut and dug out this stump with 
axe and spades would have been a hard day's work for two 
or more good men. The shape of the stump is shown 
at figure 42. A hole was punched beneath the stump, 
as shown in the figure, with an iron bar (figure 43), so as 
to reach the centre of it. Two of the cartridges 
were placed beneath the stump, and were tamped 
with some earth ; a pail of water was then poured 
into the hole, which had the effect of consolidating 
the earth around the charge. The fuse was then 
fired. The result was to split the stump into 
numerous fragments, and to throw it entirely out 
of the ground, leaving only a few shreds of roots 
loose in the soil. The result is shown in figure 44, 
on the next page ; the fragments of the stump in the 
engraving were thrown to a distance of thirty to fifty 
feet, and many smaller ones were carried over one 
hundred feet. The quantity of powder used was less 
than two pounds. A portion of the useful effect 
produced by the explosion, consisted in the tearing 
of the stump into such pieces as could easily be sawed 
up into fire-wood ; by which much after-labor in 
breaking it up, when taking it out in the usual man- 
ner, was saved. This test was perfectly successful, 
and proved not only the thorough effectiveness of 
this method, but its economy in cost and in time. 43.' 
Several other stumps were taken out in the same man- 
ner ; the time occupied with each being from five to ten 
minutes. Smaller stumps were thrown out with single 
cartridges, and in not one case was anything left in the 
ground that might not be turned out with the plow, or 



GO 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



that would interfere with the plowing of the ground. 
The explosive was then tried upon a fast rock, of about 




Fig. 44. — THE EFFECT OF BLASTING THE STUMP. 

one hundred and fifty cubic feet, weighing about ten 
tons. The shape of the rock before the explosion is 




Fig. 41 



-THE KOCK A3 IT WAS. 



shown in figure 45. A hole was made, with the bar, in 
the ground beneath the rock, and three cartridges were 



FARM COXTEN-IENCES. 



61 



inserted and exploded. To have produced this result 
(shown in figure 46), by the ordinary method, that was 
here done in a few minutes by one man, would have 
occupied, at least, two men, with drills, sledge, etc., two 
or three days. The application of this method is seen 
to be of great value where the saving of time is an 
object. An acre of stumps or rocks may be cleared in 
one day by one or two men, and the material left ready 




Fig. 40.— niC KOCK AFTLK BLASTING 

for use as fire- wood, or as stones for fences or buildings. 
The cost in money is also reduced in some cases very 
considerably, and almost absolute safety to the careful 
operator is insured. It would be generally advisable to 
secure the services of an expert, and that the parties who 
have work of this character to be performed, should 
jointly engage such a man, who could either do the whole 
work, or do it in part, and instruct a foreman or skilful 



(j2 faem coxveniexces. 

workman sufficiently in a day to perform the remainder. 
Tlie most favorable seasons for operating upon stumps 
and rocks are fall and spring, when the ground is 
saturated with water. It should be explained that this 
explosive is not injured by water, although a long-con- 
tinued exposure to it would affect some qualities of it. 



PREVENTABLE LOSSES ON THE FARM. 

It is a "^^ penny wise and pound foolish" system, to 
breed from scrub stock. There is not a farmer in this 
region who has not access to a pedigreed Shorthorn bull, 
by a payment of a small fee of two to five dollars, and 
yet we find only one animal in ten with Shorthorn blood. 
It is a common practice to breed to a yearling, and ns he 
is almost sure to become breechy, to sell him for what he 
will bring the second summer. Many farmers neglect 
castrating their calves until they are a year old. We 
think ten per cent, are thus permanently injured, must 
be classed as stags, and sold at a reduced price. Fully 
half the calves so stunted never recover. 

With many, the starving process continues through 
the entire year. They are first fed an insufficient quan- 
tity of skim milk ; then in July or August, just at the 
season when flies are at their worst, and pastures driest, 
they are weaned, and turned out to shift for themselves, 
and left on the pastures until snows fall, long after the 
fields yield them a good support. They are wintered 
without grain, spring finds them poor and hide-bound, 
and the best grazing season is over before they are fairly 
thrifty. 

The keeping of old cows Long past their prime is an- 
other thing which largely reduces the profits of the far- 
mer. We have found quite a large per cent, of cows, 



FARM COKVEKIEKCES. 63 

whose v/rinkled horns and generally ran-down condition 
show that they have long since passed the point of profit. 
A few years ago, these cows would have sold at full prices 
for beef, now they will sell only for Bologna at two cents 
per pound. Thus cows have, in a majority of cases, been 
kept, not because they were favorites, or even because 
they were profitable, but from sheer carelessness and 
want of forethought. Another fruitful cause of loss to 
the farmer is, attempting to winter more stock than he 
has feed for. Instead of estimating his resources in the 
fall, and knowing that he has enough feed even for a 
hard winter, he gives the matter no thought, and March 
finds him with the choice of two evils, either to sell 
stock, or buy feed. If he chooses the former, he will 
often sell for much less than the animals would have 
brought four months earlier, and if the latter, will usually 
pay a much higher price for feed than if it had been 
bought in autumn. Too often he scrimps the feed, 
hoping for an early spring, and so soon as he can see the 
grass showing a shade of green around the fence rows, or 
in some sheltered ravine, turns his stock out to make 
their own living. This brings one of the most potent 
causes of unprofitable cattle raising ; namely, short pas- 
tures. The farmer who is overstocked in winter, is al- 
most sure to turn his cattle on his pastures too early in 
the spring, and this generally results in short pasture all 
summer, and consequently the stock do not thrive as they 
ought, and in addition, the land which should be greatly 
benefited and enriched, is injured, for the development 
of the roots in the soil must correspond to that of the 
tops, and if the latter are constantly croj^ped short, the 
roots must be small. The benefit of shade is lost, and 
the land is trampled by the cattle in theij* wanderings to 
fill themselves, so that it is in a worse condition than if 
a crop of grain had been grown on it. From all these 



64 



FARM COJ^VEKIENCES. 



causes combined, there is a Itirge aggregate of loss, and 
it is the exception to find a farm on which one or more 
of them does not exist, and yet without exception they 
may he classed as *' preventable," if thought and prac- 
tical common sense arc brought to ])ear in the manage- 
ment. 



A CRADLE FOR DRAWING A BOAT. 

When it is necessary to draw a boat out of the water, 
a cradle should be used. This is very easily made out 
of some short boards and a piece of plank. The boards 
are cut so that when three thicknesses are bolted to- 
gether, the joints shall be broken and not come opposite 




Fii;-. 47,— CRADLE i-oii a boat. 

each other, as shown in figure 47, The cradle should be 
made to fit the boat tightly, midway between stem and 
stern, so that when it rests upon it, the boat will be 
evenly balanced and firmly held. The cradle is mounted 
upon two wheels, which may be made of hard Avood 
plank. A piece of two-inch plank may be sawn out for 
the axle, and the upper part of the cradle firmly bolted 
to it. Such a cradle as this may be made light or heavy, 
and if desired may be furnished with iron wheels, so that 



i 



FARM CO^'VE.N^IEN^CES. 65 

it will sink in the water. It can then be run down under 
the boat, and that be drawn upon it. By hauling upon 
the ring-bolt in its stern, the boat can be drawn up out 
of the water, and easily moyed on land. 

When it is desired to lift a boat out of the water, and 
suspend it in a boat-house, all that is necessary to be 
done is to fix two strong hooks, or rings, in the top of 
the house, and a ring-bolt at each end of the boat. A 
pair of double-sheaved blocks is provided for each end of 
the boat. The blocks are hooked to the rings in -the 
house and to those in the boat, w^iich is then drawn up, 
one end at a time, alternately, until high enough. If 
two persons are in the boat, both ends may be hauled up 
at once. The loose end of the rope is fastened to the 
ring of the boat, or to a ring or a cleat at the side of the 
boat-house. Then the boat remains suspended in the 
boat-house. 



FEED-RACK FOR SHEEP. 
The rack, figure 48, is made of poles for the bottom 



Fig. 48.— FEED-KACIv. FOR SHEEP. 



and top, and cross-bars fitted into them. The bottom 
bar slides loosely in brackets, which are fixed to the wall 



66 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

of the shed, and tlie upper bar is secured by a cord, 
which passes over a small pulley in a hole in the Avail 
above the rack ; a weight being attached to the outside 
end of the rope, serves to keep the rack always against 
the wall. AVhen tlie hay is put in the rack is drawn 
down, and, when filled, is pushed back against the wall, 
holding the hay closely, and being kept in j^laco by the 
weight. This prevents the hay from being pulled out too 
freely by the sheep or cattle. It is recommended that 
the grain-trough be placed beneath a rack of this kind, 
so that the chaff which falls from it may be caught in 
the trough and saved for use, instead of being trampled 
under foot. 



HOW TO MANAGE NIGHT-SOIL. 

The fertilizing properties of night-soil are well known. 
The principal reason why this valuable material is ne- 
glected and permitted to go to waste, is the difficulty of 
handling it. If improperly handled, it is disagreeable 
and difficult to apply to the uses to which it is best 
adapted. There are many cases in Avhich it could be 
made use of very conveniently, if rightly managed. In 
country towns and villages it is difficult to dispose of it, 
and it becomes a serious nuisance to householders, and 
a detriment to the public health, when it ought to be 
turned to profitable uses. In some other countries this 
refuse matter is eagerly collected and carefully used by 
the farmers. The methods employed in England, Ger- 
many, and France might very well be adopted by us, 
and a large quantity of fertilizing material be gathered. 
By the methods there in use, the night-soil is easily 
handled and j^repared for distribution upon the land, or 
for mixing in composts. Arrangements are made with 
persons in towns and villages who wish to have the soil 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 67 

removed, and the time being fixed (this is always in the 
night, from which circumstance the name given to the 
material is derived), wagons with tight boxes, or carts, 
are sent to the place. Carts are mostly used, as indeed 
they are in Europe for most of the farm work. The 
carts, or wagons, carry out a quantity of earth, chopped 
straw, ashes, or such other absorbent as may be conven- 
iently procured, and some sheaves of long straw, or else 
the ashes or other absorbent used, which is frequently 
the sweepings and scrapings of streets, is prepared upon 
the ground or near by. This material is then disposed 





I'i.i.iAi.i^U MGUTSOIL. 



in the form of a bank enclosing a space of sufficient size 
to hold the night-soil, as shown in figure 49. A reserve 
heap is kept to be mixed with the night-soil as it is emp- 
tied into the j)lace prepared for it. Wheelbarrows wdth 
tight boxes are generally used to convey the soil from the 
cesspool. When the whole has been removed from the 
cesspool, the cut straw is mixed in and the banks of earth 
are turned over upon the pile, which can then be han- 
dled with shovels or forks, and is ready to be loaded into 
the wagon. Some of the long straw is laid in the bot- 
tom of the wagon-box, and the mixed mass is thrown 
upon it, layer after layer alternately with straw, until 
the top of the wagon-box i;3 reached. It is most con- 



68 FARM CONVEKIENCE&. 

venient to Lave a rack, or flaring side-boards, to confine 
the upper part of the load, but this is not necessary if 
the loading is proj)erly done. The manner of loading 
the top is as follows': a bundle of straw is spread so that 
half of it projects over the side or end of the load. A 
quantity of the mixed stuff is forked on to the straw, the 
loose projecting ends of which are turned back on to the 
load when more is laid upon it. The doubled straw 
holds the loose stuff together, which miglit else be shaken 
off the load as it is carried home. In this manner the 
load is built up until it is completed, when it appears as 




Fig. 50. — m.v>;neh of i.oading night-soil. 

shown in figure 50. Loads thus made are carried many 
miles without losing anything on the journey, and the 
mass, which would seem to have no coherence, is kept 
solidly together. Carts are sometimes loaded to a hight 
of two or three feet above the side-boards, and are made 
to carry a load for three horses. By this management, 
this material is no more disagreeable than ordinary ma- 
nure, and the work of moving it is rendered quite easy. 



THE USE OF LIME IN BLASTING. 

There are some forces, apparently insignificant, v>^hich 
act with irresistible power through short distances. The 



FARM C0iirVE]S^IE:N^CE3. 69 

expansion of water in freezing is a force of this kind. 
The increase in bulk in changing from the liquid to the 
solid state of ice is only about one-tenth, yet it exercises 
a power sufficient to break iron vessels and rend the 
hardest rocks. Every one who has slaked a lump of 
quicklime by gradually pouring water upon it, has 
observed that the first effect of the contact between the 
water and lime is to cause a swelling of the lump. It 
generally expands and takes up considerable more room 
than before. This expausive force has recently been 
successfully applied to coal mining in England. Pow- 
dered quicklime is strongly compressed into cartridges 
about three inches in diameter, and each has running 
through it a perforated iron tube, through which 
water can be forced. These cartridges were used in a 
coal mine in place of the usual blasting charge, water 
was forced into them, and the expansion of the lime 
threv/ down a mass of coal weighing about ten tons, 
with little of the small coal made with the usual blast. 
The exemption from danger and the avoidance of smoke, 
have caused coal mine owners to regard this new method 
with favor. Some of our ingenious reapers may find a 
useful hint in this. 



A WATER AND FEED TROUGH. 

A supply of water in the cow-stable is a great con- 
venience ; a simple arrangement for furnishing it to the 
cows in their stalls may be made as follows : Sheets of 
galvanized iron are bent to form a trough, and fitted 
into the floor joists under the feed-box, as indicated in 
figure 51, making a trough three inches deep and six- 
teen inches wide. The flanges on each side are nailed to 
the joists, and the sheets of iron riveted together at the 



70 FAKM CONVEXIEKCES. 

ends, and made water-tight by cement. The trough 
runs the entire length of the feed floor, and is supplied 
with water from a pipe, pump, or hose ; a pipe at the 
other end carries away the surplus w^ater and prevents 
overflow, -and another pipe with a faucet is provided for 
emptying the trough. The feed-box is built over the 




water trough, a part of its floor being a trap — indicated 
by dotted lines in the engraving — by which admission 
to the water is gained. Before opening this trap, the 
manger is swept clean ; and if there were no other advan- 
tage than this compulsory cleansing of the mangers 
after each feeding, it would be sufficient to pay for the 
cost of constructing such a watering arrangement. 



THE CONSTRUCTION OF STALLS. 

It is rare, even in these days of progress, to see a well- 
arranged stall in Ji farmer's barn. No horse stall should 
be less than six feet in width, nor of a length less than 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 71 

nine feet. This affords room for the animal to lie down 
and rise comfortably without bruising hips and limbs, 
and also for the attendant to pass in and out. The 
partition between stalls should be of sufficient hight to 
prevent playing, biting, and kicking. Eacks of iron 
are neat and serviceable. The horse eats its food from 
the ground, and because many first pull out a greater 
portion of the hay from the rack, we shall dispense with 
the rack as commonly used, and substitute a single 
manger which serves for both hay and grain. 

AVhatever may be the foundation of the stall, whether 
of brick, stone, cement, clay, or wood, it should have 
inclination enough to carry off all fluid. Over this 
place a flooring composed of strips of plank, four inches 
in width by two inches in thickness, with an inch inter- 
vening between each strip. This need not extend more 
than half tlie length of the stall, the upper portion being 
compact. The essential point is that the horse shall 
stand with an equal weight upon all the extremities. 
This custom of confining a horse to a sloping stall, in 
one position sometimes for days, is a cruel one, and very 
detrimental to the limbs and feet, as it brings about, 
sooner or later, serious affections in these parts. A 
loose box is far preferable to the stall, w^herever practi- 
cable. Every stable or barn should be provided with 
one at least, m case of sickness or accident. By the 
arrangement of a floor as just described, the bedding is 
kept dry and the animal clean and comfortable. Litter 
should be always kept beneath the animal; it gives an 
air of comfort to the place and invites to repose of body 
and limbs by day and night. Stalls for both horses and 
cattle should be of sufficient hight, as also all door and 
passage ways about a barn. Formerly, it was the cus- 
tom to build in such a w^ay that no horse, and not even 
a man of respectable hight could enter a door-way with- 



72 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

out danger of knocking his skull, and inflicting serious 
injury. There are stalls in country barns so low that a 
horse caunot throw up his head without receiving a 
blow against the beams above. Animals undoubtedly 
acquire the trick of pulling back, or of making a sud- 
den spring when passing, a door- way, from having been 
obliged to run the gauntlet of some narrow, low, ill- 
contrived passage-way. The man who should now be 
guilty of building in this way would deserve to have his 
own brains knocked, every time he passes in and out, as 
a gentle reminder of his foliy. All barn-doors should 
be high, wide, and, when practicable, always slide. 

The common mode of securing cattle in the barn, 
especially milch cows, by placing their necks between 
stanchions, is not to be advocated, especially when they 
are confined in this way for many hours at a time with- 
out relief, as is often necessary in the winter season. A 
simple chain about the neck with a ring upon an upright 
post affords perfect security, while it gives the animal 
freedom of movement to head and limbs — and conduces 
to its comfort in various other ways. Animals should 
not be overcrowded, as is too often the case in large 
dairy establishments — a fact which will make itself 
evident sooner or later in the sanitary qualities of the 
milk, if in no other manner. We cannot deny the 
fact, if we would, that everything, however trifling, 
that contributes to the welfare of our domestic animals 
is a gain to the owner of them pecuniarily, and what 
touches a man's pocket is generally considered to be 
worth looking after, at all times and in all places. 



HOG-KILLING IMPLEMENTS— RINGING. 

The stout table on which the dead porkers are lain to 
be scraped and dressed after being scalded, is made with 



FARM co:n'veniexces. 



73 



its top curving about four inches in a width of four feet;, 
and consisting of strips of oak plank, as represented in 
figure 62. This curved top conforms to the form of the 




Fig. 52. — A DRESSI>'G TABLE. 

carcass, and holds it in any desired position better than 
a flat surface. For scrapers, old-fashioned iron candle- 
sticks are used ; the curved and sufficiently sharp edges 




Fig. 53.— HANDY MEAT CLEAVEK. 

at either end serving as well as a scraper made for the 
purpose, and its small end has an advantage over the 
latter for working about the eyes and other sharp de- 
pressions. A cleaver for use in cutting up the pork is 
shown in figure 53; it has a thirteen-inch blade, three 
inches wide at the widest part, and one-quarter inch 
thick at the back. This is a convenient implement, easily 
and cheaply made by a good blacksmith, if it cannot be 



74 FARM CONVENIEITCES. 

had at the stores ; any mechanic can put on the wooden 
handle. In figure 54 is represented a home-made hog- 
ringing ai^paratus. The blacksmith makes an instru- 
ment resembling a horse-shoe nail, of good iron, about 
three inches long, three-sixteenths of an inch wide, and 
one-thirty-second of an inch thick, tapering to a point ; 
the '^ head " is merely the broad flat end curled up. 



Fig. 54.— noG-RiisGEit and key. 

Just before using, this needle-like instrument has its 
corners rubbed off on a file ; it then is easily pushed 
through the septum of the pig's nose. A key with its 
tongue broken off and a slot filed in the end, is used to 
curl up the projecting end, and the ringing is done. 
The *^ rings" cost about seyenty-five cents a hundred, 
and are effective and easily applied. 



HOW TO MIX CEMENT. 

The article to be used is the Rosendale cement. 
This is nearly as good as the imported Portland ce- 



FARM convenie:n'ces. 75 

ment, and much cheaper. The cement is made from 
what is known as hydraulic lime-stone — that . is a rock 
which contains, besides ordinary lime-stone, some clay, sil- 
ica, and magnesia. Pure lime-stone contains only lime 
and carbonic acid, in the proportions of fifty-six parts 
of the former to forty-four of the latter in one hundred. 
When this stone is burned, the carbonic acid is driven 
ofi by the lieat, and pure or quick-lime is left. When 
this is brought in contact with Avater, the two combine, 
forming hydrate of lime ; during tlie combination, heat 
is given out ; the operation is called slaking. When the 
water is just sufficieut to form the combination, a fine, 
dry powder is produced, which we call dry slaked-lime. 
When the water is in excess, the suri^lus is mixed me- 
chanically with the lime, and forms what is called the 
milk of lime, or cream of lime, according to its consist- 
ence ; it is this pasty substance wliicli we mix Ivith 
sand, to form building mortar. But when v/e have clay 
mixed in a certain proportion, either naturally or arti- 
ficially, with the lime-stone, and this stone or mixture 
is burned in the same manner as ordinary lime-stone, we 
get what is known as hydraulic lime, because it combines 
with a much larger proportion of water than pure lime, 
and in combining with it, instead of falling to powder, 
like ordinary lime, it hardens into stone again. This 
hardening takes place even under water ; the hydraulic 
lime combines with just so much water as is required to 
"set" or harden, and leaves the remainder. It pos- 
sesses this property, also, when mixed, Avith sand in j^ro- 
per proportions, and when so mixed, the cement will 
adhere very firmly to the surface of any stone to which 
it may be applied. This property is made available in 
constructing works of concrete, which consists of broken 
stone mixed with such a quantity of cement, that, when 
it is packed closely, the surfaces of all the pieces of 



76 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

stone are brought into contact with tlie cement, and the 
spaces between the fragments of stone are filled with it. 
That there may be no more cement used than is actually 
needed, the mixture is rammed down solidly, until the 
fragments of stone are brouglit into close contact with 




Fig. 55.— BOX JbOK MIXING CEMENT. 

each other. The composition of the impure or hydraulic 
lime-stone, which behaves in this useful manner, is, in 
the case of some of the Kingston stone, as follows : Car- 
bonic acid, 34.20 per cent.; lime, 25.50; magnesia, 12.35 ; 
silica, 15.37; alumina (clay), 0.13 ; and peroxide of iron 
(which is useless or worse), 2.25. On account of this 
difference in character between lime and cement, a dif- 
ferent treatment is necessary for each, and each is jiut to 
different uses. The cement makes a much harder and 
more solid combination with sand, and is therefore chosen 




J! 



Fig. 50. — SIDE OF CK.MI.NT I'.UX. 

when gi'eat strength is required. Its rapid setting, when 
mixed with water, also requires that it be used as soon 
as it is mixed, and renders a rapid mixture necessary. 
The cement and sand should, therefore, be mixed to- 
gether dry, and very thoroughly. Four parts of sand 



FAEM co:n^veniekces. 77 

to one part of cement are the proportions generally used. 
These may be mingled in a box of suitable character, 
and the mass is so spread as to have a hollow in the cen- 
tre, into which water is poured. The sides of the heap 
are gradually worked into the water, with a common 
hoe, in sucli a way as to prevent the water from sj)read- 
ing about, and as it is absorbed more "water is poured 
in, until the whole is brought to a thin semi-liquid con- 
dition. A bos very suitable for this operation is shown 
in figure 55. This is made of pieces of plank, prepared 
as follows : The side pieces are shown at figure 56. The 
end pieces are made with tenons, which fit in mortises 
in the side pieces, and the frame thus made is held to- 




g. 57.— MACHINE FOK MIXING CEMENT. 



gether by keys driven into the holes seen in the tenons. 
The bottom planks are fastened together with cleats, so 
placed as to receive the frame and fit snugly. Iron bolts 
are put through holes in the cleats, and through tlie 
holes in figure 56, and by means of nuts with washers 
under them, the whole box is brought firmly together. 
Such a box, after having been used for this purpose, will 
be found very useful for mixing feed in the barn, or for 
many other purposes, and may, therefore, be well made 



78 FARM CONVEi^-TENCES. 

at the first. When the mortar is mixed, the broken 
stone may be thrown into it, beginning at one side, and 
the whole is worked up thoroughly with the hoe, so that 
every piece of stone is coated with the cement. A 
machine, that is easily made, may be used for this mix- 
ing, and is also yery useful for mixing ordinary mortar 
for building or plastering. It is shown in figure 57. It 
consists of a box set upon feet, with a smaller box at- 
tached at the rear end, having an opening at the bottom 
where tlie mortar is seen escaping, and a shaft, having 
broad, flat arms on it, placed at a somewhat acute angle 
with the line of the shaft, so that they will operate as a 
screw to force the mass along the spout and out of it at 
the opening. A crank handle is fitted to this shaft, and 
if a fly-wheel can be borrowed from a feed-cutter, or a 
corn-sheller, and attached to the shaft as shown, so 
much the better. The materials to be mixed are thrown 
into the box, and by turning the handle, the whole will 
be thoroughly incorporated with great rapidity and ease. 



KINGING AND HANDLING BULLS. 

Now that more attention is given to improving farm 
stock, a bull is kept upon nearly every large farm. The 
high-bred bulls are spirited animals, and are exceedingly 
dangerous if the utmost caution is not exercised in man- 
aging them. Experienced breeders are not unfrequently 
caught unawares, and unceremoniously lifted over the 
fence, or forced to escape ingloriously from one of their 
playful animals, or even seriously injured by the vicious 
ones. It should be made a rule, wherever a bull is kept, 
to have him ringed, before he is a year old, and brought 
under subjection and discipline at an early age, while he 
can be safely and easily handled. Some time ago we as- 
sisted at the ringing of a yearling bull, whicli severely 



FARil C0NVE:N"IEXC£S. 



taxed the utmost exertions of six persons with ropes and 
stanchions to hold him. A slip of the foot might have 
caused the loss of a life, or some serious injuries. To 
avoid such dangerous struggles, a strong frame, similar 
to that in figure 58, in which to confine the bull, may 




Fig. 58.— STALL FOR BULL. 

bo used. The frame consists of four or six stout posts 
set deeply in the ground, with side-bars bolted to it, 
forming a stall in which the bull can be confined so that 
he cannot turn around. The frame may be placed in 
the barn-yard or a stable, and may be made to serve as a 
stall. At the front, a breast-bar should be bolted, and 
the upper side-bars should project beyond this for eight- 
een or twenty inches. The 
forward posts project above 
the side-bars some inches. 
The ends of these j^osts, and 
the side-bars, are bored with 
one-inch holes, and at the 
rear of the frame there should 
be tenons or iron straj)S to 
receive a strong cross-bar, to 
prevent the animal from es- 
caping should the fastenings 
become broken or loosened. ^^»- 59-— stkap. 

The bull, led into the frame, is placed with his head 




80 



FARM COKVEKIEis^CES. 



oyer the breast-bai% and tlie liorns are tied with ropes 
an inch in diameter to the holes in the bars and posts. 
He is then secured, and his head is elevated so that the 
trochar and cannula can be readily used to j)ierce the 
cartilage of the nose, and the ring inserted and screwed 
together. Before the ring is used, it should be tested 
to ascertain that it is sound and safe. 

When the ring is inserted, the straps shown in figure 
59 should be used, for the purpose of holding it up and 
out of the way, so as not to interfere with the feeding of 
the animal until the nose has healed and become cal- 
loused. The straps may be left upon the head perma- 
nently, if desired, when the 
iront strap will offer a con_ 
venient means of catching 
him by the staff, when neces- 
sary to do so in the field. 
The staff is a matter of the 
greatest importance. This 
should be made of the tough- 
est ash or hickory, and not 
less than five feet long. With 
a staff of this length, the 
herdsman can check the wild- 
est bull, and by resting the 
butt-end of it upon the 
ground, can throw the ani- 
mal's head up, and prevent 
him from approaching too 
Fig. 00. STAVES. Fig. Gi. near. The hook of the staff 
is shown of two kinds in figures 60 and Gl. One is fur- 
nished with a spring, by which it is closed. A metal 
bar attached to the spring and passing through a hole in 
the staff, prevents the ring from slipping along the 
spring. The other is provided with a screw by which it 
is closed. 




FAEM COKVEKIENCES. 



81 



SLED FOR REMOVING CORN-SHOCKS. 

A sled used for moving corn-shocks from a field 
which is to be sown with winter grain is shown in figure 
62. It is simply a sled of the most ordinary construc- 
tion, and which any farmer can build. It is made of 
two joists or planks of hemlock, though oak might be 
better ; say three inches thick, a foot wide, and four- 
teen to sixteen feet long, rounded at one end and con- 
nected by three strong cross-pieces, being in form just 




SIDE OF fcLEU. 



such a sled as a farmer boy w^ould make to use in the 
snow, with the addition of cross braces before and be- 
hind. The under edge of the runners should be rounded 
off to the extent of one and a half to two inches, to turn 
more easily. There should be also short standards be- 
fore and behind. The runners may be four to five feet 
apart, according to the length of the corn. A side view 
of the runner with the standards is given in figure 62, 





Fig. 63.— TOP OF SLED. 

and a top view of the complete sled in figure 63. 



First, 



cnt off the corn and put it in shocks in the usual way, 
making the shock smaller than usual. Let it stand thus 



4* 



S'Z FARM CONVEKIEiq-CES. 

a few days to dry, then a pair of horses are hitched to the 

sled, which is driven alongside the shock. The shock is 
pushed over on to the sled, and so one shock after 
another until the sled is full. The load is then driven 
to an adjoining field, where the shocks are set up on end 
again, and about four of them made into one and tied 
at the top, or reared against a fence. 

The particular advantages of this plan arc : First, 
that by use of the sled and method of leading and un- 
loading the shocks, all actual lifting of the corn is 
avoided, and the labor and expense reduced more than 
one-half. Second, by permitting it to dry a few days, its 
weight is greatly reduced, and the handling much 
lighter. Third, the corn being partially dried, it can be 
put together in larger shocks the second time, and will 
keep better. By this method one man can clear two acres 
or more in a day, according to the weight of the crop. 



A TAGGING TROUGH. 

Sheep should be tagged in early spring, and a table 
for this purpose is shown in figure G4. The sheep is 
placed on this table feet upwards, in which position it is 
perfectly helpless, and will not struggle. Then the 
soiled wool about the hind parts, the belly, or the legs is 
clipped off with great ease, less than a minute being 
needed to tag a sheep. Half time will serve for some 
shearers to do this. In large flocks these tables will be 
necessary, and those who have small ones will find them 
very useful. 



LIME AND LIME KILNS. 

The periodical use of lime as a fertilizer is necessary 
to good culture. In the best cultivated parts of the 



FAEM COXYEXIEKCES. 



83 



country, lime is used once in every rotation of five crops, 
the usual rotation being two years, grass, corn, oats, 
wheat, or rye, seeded to grass or clover again. The lime 
is applied to the land when it is plowed for the fall grain, 
and is harrowed in before the seed is drilled, or it is har- 
rowed in with the seed, sown broadcast. The quantity 
used is from forty to fifty bushels per acre. The effect 
of lime is both mechanical and chemical ; it opens and 




TKOUGU FOli TAGGINO SUEEP. 



loosens heavy clays, and consolidates light, loose, sandy, 
or peaty vegetable soils ; it has the effect of liberating 
potash from the soil, and of decomposing inert organic 
matter, and reducing it to an available condition. But 
while it is beneficial, it cannot be used alone without 
exhausting the soil of its fertile properties. This is evi- 
dent from what has been said of its character ; at least 
this is true, so far as regards its effects beyond affording 
directly to the crops any lime that they may appropriate 
from the supply thus given. All the benefits received 
beyond this is a direct draft on the natural stores of the 
soil. It is therefore necessary, to good agriculture, that 



84 



FAKM CONVEKIENCES. 



either a thrifty clover sod should he plowed under, at 
least once in the rotation, or that a liberal dressing of 
manure be given, or both of these. In those localities 
where the benefits to be derived from the skilful use of 
lime are best known and ap^Dreciated, this method is 
practised ; a heavy sod being plowed under, after having 
been pastured one year, for the corn, and a good coating 
of manure being given when the land is plowed for fall 
grain. Under such treatment, the soil is able to main- 
tain itself and return profitable crops. It is not where 




Fig. 65.— IMPROVED LIME KILN WITH ELEVATED TRACK. 

this course is pursued that complaints are prevalent of 
the unprofitableness of farming. The use of lime is 
spreading gradually into the Western States, where the 
competition of tlie still farther and fresher western fields 
is being severely felt. The experience of Eastern farm- 
ers is now being repeated in what were once the West- 
ern States, and every appliance of scientific and thorough 
agriculture is found to be needed to maintain those 
AYestern farmers in the close contest for a living. This 
kiln, figure G5, is intended to stand upon level ground, 
and is furnished with a sloping track, upon which self- 



FAEM COiq-VENIENCES. 85 

dumping cars containing fuel or lime may be drawn up 
by horse-power with a rope and pulleys. The body of 
the kiln may be twenty feet square at the bottom, and 
thirty feet high, with a flue above the stack of ten to 
twenty feet. The stack may be built of stone or brick, 
but should be lined with fire-brick or refractory sand- 
stone. The arch is protected by the shed under the 
track. At B, B, are two bearing bars of cast-iron, three 
by two inches thick, which support the draw-bars, C, 
These are made of one and a half inch round wrought 
iron, having rings at the outer end, and of which there 
are four to the foot across the throat of the kiln, which 
is four or five feet in diameter. The rings serve to ad- 
mit a crow-bar, by which the bars, or some of them, are 
drawn out to let down the charge of lime. The open 
space, D, is intended for the insertion of the bar to 
loosen or break the lime, should the throat become gorged. 
A cast-iron frame, with an aperture of three by twenty- 
four inches, is built into this opening. It also serves to 
kindle the kiln, and is closed by an iron door. The car 
should be made of wood, and lined with sheet-iron ; it is 
hinged to the front axle, and hooked to the draft-rope, 
so that when the fore-wheels strike the block, E, at the 
mouth of the kiln, the car tips and dumps its load. The 
iron door, F, which closes the kiln, is raised or lowered 
by means of the rope and ring, G, which passes over a 
pulley fixed upon the side of the flue. A covered shed 
will be needed to protect the top of the stack, and a gal- 
lery should be made around it, for a passage-way for the 
workmen. This kind of kiln is suited only for the 
use of coal as fuel ; when wood is used for burning 
the lime, common pits or temporary kilns are to be 
constructed. 



8G FARM COKVENIEKCES. 

FALL FALLOWING. 

The old practice of summer fallowing, or working the 
soil for one year without a crop, for the purpose of gain- 
ing a double crop the second season, is now, very properly, 
obsolete. While some may question the propriety of this 
opinion, there can be no doubt as to the value of fall 
fallowing. The constant turning and working of the 
ground during the fall months cost nothing but time 
and labor, at a season when these cannot be otherAvise 
employed, and so, in reality, cost nothing. But the 
benefits to the soil are very considerable. Especially is 
this the case with heavy clay soils, and less, in a descend- 
ing ratio, through the gradations from heavy clay down 
to light loams — at least it is so considered by many ; 
and it is reasonable to suppose that if the atmospheric 
effects upon the particles of a clay soil serve, to some 
extent, to dissolve the mineral particles, they may easily 
do the same service for a sandy soil, and help to set loose 
some of the potash contained in the granitic or feld- 
spathic particles of such a soil. The mechanical effects 
of the fall working are certainly more useful upon clay 
than a light loam ; but there are other purposes to serve 
than merely to disintegrate the soil, and mellow and 
loosen it. There are weeds to destroy, and the forward- 
ing of the spring Avork by the preparation of the ground 
for early sowing. These services are as useful for a light 
soil as a heavy one, and as it is reasonable to look for 
some advantage from the working in the way of gain in 
fertility on light as well as heavy soils, it is advisable 
that owners of either kind should avail themselves of 
whatever benefits the practice affords. Fall fallowing 
consists in plowing and working the soil with the culti- 
vator or the harrow. This may be done at such inter- 
vals as may be convenient, or which will help to start 



FARM COKVElflENCES. 87 

Bome weeds into growth, when these may be destroyed 
by the harrow or cultivator. Heavy soils should be left 
in rough ridges at the last plowing, with as deep furrows 
between them as possible, in order to expose the largest 
surface to the effects of frost and thaw. Light soils may 
be left in a less rough condition, but the last plowing 
should be so done as to throw the furrows on edge, and 
not flat, leaving the field somewhat ridged. A very 
little work in the spring will put the ground into excel- 
lent order for the early crops, and for spring wheat, 
especially, this better condition of the soil will be of the 
greatest benefit. When thus treated in the fall, the soil 
is remarkably mellow, and is dry enough to work much 
earlier than the compact stubble land which remains as 
it was left after the harvest. As to the time for doing 
this work, the sooner it is begun, and the often er it is 
repeated, the better. It is not too late to finish when 
the ground is frozen or there is an inch of snow on the 
ground. 



UNLOADING CORN. 

Every little help that will ease the troublesome labor 
of transferring the corn crop from the field to the crib is 




Fin:. 66.— BOARD for unloading. 



gratefully accepted. We have used both of the contri- 
vances here shown (figures 6Q and 67), to help in getting 



88 



FARM COKVENIENCES. 



the ears out of the wagon-box. At the start it is diffi- 
cult to shovel up the corn, and until the bottom of the 
wagon-box is reached, the shovel or scoop cannot be 
made to enter the load. But if a piece of wide board is 
placed in a sloping position, resting upon the tail-board 
of the wagon (figure GO), the shovel can be used with ease 




Fig. 67. — UNLOADING AKRANGEMENT. 

at the commencement of the unloading. Another plan 
is to make the box two feet longer than usual, and place 
the tail-board two feet from the end, figure 67. "When 
the tail-board is lifted, the ears slide down into this re- 
cess, from which they can be scooped with ease. 



STONE BOATS. 
For moving plows, harrows, etc., to and from the fields, 




Fig. 68.— PLANK STONE BOAT. 

and for many other purposes, a stone boat is far better 
tha:i a sled or Avagon, and is many times cheaper than 



FARM CONVEXIEXCES. 



89 



either. Two plans of construction are illustrated. The 
boat shown in figure 68 is of plank, six feet in length, 
one foot at one end being sawed at the angle shown. 
Three planks, each one foot in width, will make it of 
about the right proportion. A railing two by three 
inches is pinned upon three sides, while a plank is 
firmly pinned at the front end, through which the draw- 
bolt passes. That shown in figure 69 has some advan- 




STOXE BOAT WITH KUNNEKS. 



tage over the former, a cheaper quality of wood and of 
shorter length can be used, and when one set of runners 
is worn out, others can be readily attached without de- 
stroying the frame. Oak or maple plank should be used 
for the best boats, and when runners are used, the tough- 
est wood at hand should be selected. Don't think be- 
cause it is only a stone boat it is not worthy of being 
taken care of. 



A DUMP-CART. 

The dump-cart, figure 70, is a handy contrivance, a 
good deal used in some parts of this State, and is simply 
an ordinary ox-cart, the tongue shortened and fastened 
by a king bolt to the forward axle of a wagon, as shown 
in the engraving. It can be turned very short, as the 
wheels have a clear swing up to the cart-tongue, and is 
very convenient for hauling anything that is to be 
dumned : such as stones, earth, wood, manure, etc. 



90 



FARM CONVENIEKCES. 



The seat of an old mowing machine is fastened to the 




Fig. 70. — IMPliOVEI> DUMP-CAKT. 

cart-tongue, on which the driver sits. Horses or oxeu 
may be used. 



TO PREVENT WASHING OF HILL-SIDES. 

Much damage is done by the washing of hill-sides into 
deep gullies by heavy rains. Where sloping ground is 
cultivated this is unavoidable, unless something is done 
to prevent it. In some cases deep plowing and loosen- 
ing the subsoil will go far to prevent washing, as it 
enables the water to sink into the ground, and pass away 
without damage, by slow filtration. But where the sub- 
so;l is not very porous, and when the rain falls coiDiously 
and suddenly, the water saturates the surface soil in a 
few minutes, and the surplus then flows down the slope, 
cutting the softened earth into many channels, wiiich by 
and by run together. Then the large body of water 



FAEM COi^VEis^IEisCES. 91 

possesses a force which the soil cannot resist, and carries 
the earth down with it, often doing serious and irre- 
parable damage in an hour or less. Of the many plans 
which have been suggested and tried to prevent this 
washing, the most successful is the terracing of the 
slope. This is done by plowing, with a swivel plow, 
around the hill, or back and forth on the slope, com- 
mencing at the bottom and throwing the earth down- 
wards in such a manner that a flat terrace is formed, 
which has a small slope backwards from the front of the 
hill. When this terrace has been formed, the plowing 
is commenced ten or twelve feet above, and another 
terrace is made in the same manner. This is continued 
to the top of the slope. If thought desirable, the inner 
furrows on each terrace may be made to form a water 
channel, and this maybe connected with the channel on 
the next slope lower down, in some safe manner, either 
by a shute of boards or of stone, to prevent washing of 
the soil at these points where the fall will be consider- 
able. This, however, is a side issue, which does not 
necessarily belong to the main work. The arrangement 
of the hill-side is shown in figure 71, in which the 




Fig. 71. — PROFILE OF A TERRACED EILL. 

original outline of the hill, and the arrangement of the 
terraces, which are cut out of it, are given. When a 
heavy rain falls upon the terraced hill, the effect will be 
to throw the water backwards from the outer slope, into 
the channels at the rear of the terraces ; and there, as 
well as upon the broad surface of the terraces, there is 



92 



FAEM CONVENIENCES. 



abundant means of escape by sinking into the soil. If 
not, and the amount of water is too great to be thus dis- 
posed of, it may be carried down the slojDe, by arranging 
the furrows as drains in the way previously indicated. 
Hill-sides of this character should be kept in grass, 
when the slope is too steep for comfortable plowing, 
after it has been thus arranged ; or it may be planted 
with fruit trees, vines, or timber, upon the slopes, leav- 
ing the terraces to be cultivated, or the slopes may be 
kept in grass, and the terraces cultivated. But in what- 
ever manner the ground may be disposed of, it would be 
preferable to leaving it to be gullied by rains, barren, 
useless, and objectionable in every way. 



A LOG MINK-TRAP. 
A mink-trap is made by boring a two-inch or two and 




Fis;. 72,— MINK-TKAP. 



a half inch hole in a log, four or five inches deep, and into 
the edges of this hole drive three sharpened nails, so that 



FAEM COXYENIEKCES. 93 

they will project half an inch or so inside, as shown 
in figure 72. The bait being at the bottom, the mink 
pushes his head in to get it, but on attempting to with- 
draw it is caught by the nails. Musk-rat is good bait 
for them, and a highly praised bait is made by cutting 
an eel into small bits, which are placed in a bottle and 
hung in the sun, and after a time become an oily and 
very odorous mass. A few drops of this are used. The 
above simple mink-trap may be made by using any block 
of wood, or a stump of a tree, large or small, and the 
same plan may be made use of to trap skunks, or, by 
using a small hole and some straightened fish-hooks, it 
will serV'C to catch rats or weasels, enemies of the rural 
poultry yard, which may be thinned off by the use of 
this trap. 



PLOWING FROM THE INSIDE OF THE FIELD. 

There is but one reason why j^lowing should not be 
done from the inside of the field, and that is, the imag- 
inary difficulty in "coming out right." There are sev- 
eral points in favor of this method : When a field is 
plowed, beginning at the outside, there is always a dead 
furrow running from each corner to the centre ; besides 
this, the team is obliged to run out, and turn upon the 
plowed land at every corner, making a broad strip which 
is much injured by the treading, especially if the land 
is clayey and rather moist. By beginning at the middle, 
all this is avoided ; the horses turn upon unplowed land, 
and the soil at each plowing is thrown towards the cen- 
tre of the field, as it should be. There is no difficulty 
in finding the centre of the field from which to begin 
the plowing. Suppose ^ve have a rectangular field like 
the one shown in figure 73 ; any person who can meas- 
ure by pacing, is able to find the middle of the ends. 



94 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



A D and B C; the points K and L. From K, pace 
towards Z, a distance equal to one-half A D, which gives 
the point E. Also the same distance from L, towards 
Ky giving F, and the work of fixing the central point is 
done. Eun a furrow from A and D to E, and from B 
and C to F; these define the comers and assist in the 
turning of the plow. The plowing then begins by back- 

A B 



\ 


i 


1 / 


/ 


'f\ 




/ 




J\l 


\ 


/ \ 

\ 


i \ 

1 
1 


D 






c 



Fig. 73.— PLAN FOB llECTANGULAR FIELD. 

furrowing from E to F; plowing on the ends as soon as 
possible. After the work has progressed for a time, as 
far as indicated, for example, by the dotted lines, G, H, 

/, J, pace from the furrow 
to the outside (see dotted 
lines), at or near each end of 
the furrow, as a correction, 
and, if necessary, gauge the 
plow until the furrow on all 
sides is equally distant from 
the boundary. When the 
field is of irregular shape, it 
is not difficult to begin in 
the centre and plow outward 
— in fact, this system is of 

Fig. 74.— PLAN FOR IRREGULAR . . ^^ l,rv,.^ K^ 

FIELD. most importance here, be- 

cause all the short turning in the middle of the field, 




FARM COI^VENIEXCES. 95 

incident to the irregularity of the field, comes on un- 
plowed ground. 

In figure 74 we have a piece of very irregular shape. 
From a point en A D, at right angles to B, pace the 
distance to B, and place a stake at the middle point, E, 
In the same way, determine the point F on the line 
N D. In a line with E, F, measure from K Vi distance 
equal to M E (one-half the perpendicular distance 
across the end of field), and also in like manner 
determine the point F — which gives the central line, 
E F. The plow should be run from the four corners, as 
in the first case, to make the corner lines. The plow- 
man will use his judgment, and plow only upon the 
lower portion at first, until the plowed land takes the 
shape G, H, /, J, when the correction is made. From 
this time on the furrow runs parallel with the boundary, 
and the work continues smoothly to the end. 



A WIRE-FENCE TIGHTENER. 

Having occasion recently to tighten some wires in a 
trellis, we made use of the following contrivance. Into 




Fig. 75.— WIRE TIGHTENER. 

a small piece of wood a few inches long we put two 
screws about three inches apart, and near to one end one 
other screw, leaving the heads projecting about half an 
inch. By placing the wire between the two screws, and 
turning the piece of wood around, the wire was drawn 
tight ; and by engaging the head of the single screw 
upon it, the tension was maintained. The operation of 



96 



FARM CO^q-VEI^^IEKCES. 



the contrivance is shown at 1, and the method of arrang- 
ing the screws or pins appears as 2. By using a strong 
piece of wood two feet long, and strong iron bolts, fast- 
ened Avitli nuts upon the back side, this device may be 



used to tighten fence wdres. 



PLANTING CORN— A MARKER. 

What w^ould be thought of a mechanic who should rip 
his boards from a log with the old-fashioned whip saw 
and plane them or matcli them by hand, or who should 
work out his nails on the anvil one at a time by hand 
labor ? He would hardly earn enough to find himself 
in bread alone. Yet in an equally old-fashioned, costly, 
and unprofitable way do thousands of farmers plant and 
cultivate their corn crops. The ground is plowed, har» 




Fig. 76.— HUNKER AND TOOTH FOll MARKER. 

rowed and marked out both ways, either with the plow, 
or sometimes by a quicker method, with a corn marker. 
The seed is dropped by hand and covered by hand with 
a hoe ; the crop is hoed by hand or plowed in the old 
method, leaving the ground ridged and deeply furrowed, 
so that in a dry season the corn suffersfor want of moist- 
ure. All this costs so much that the farmer's labor 



FARM CONVEKIEKCES. 



97 



brings him about fifty cents a day, upon which he lives, 
grumbling that ^^ farming does not pay." This method 
would be ruinous in the West Avhere corn is a staple crop, 
and that it is not so in the East is simply because it is 
not grown to a large extent. But there is no crop that 
maybe grown so cheaply and easily in the East that pro- 
duces so much feed as corn. Fifty bushels of corn and 
four tons of fodder per acre contain more dry nutriment 
than thirty tons of turnips or mangels, and may be grown 
with less labor and less cost, if only the best methods 
are employed. K^ow, with the excellent implements and 
machines that are in use for planting and cultivating 
corn, no farmer can afford to work this crop in the old- 
fashioned method. There is no longer any need to plant 
in squares, for the crop may be kept perfectly clean 
when planted in drills, if the proper implements are 
used. There are several corn planters by which the seed 




Fio;. 77.— THE m 



\RKEIt AT WOKK. 



may be dropped and covered at the same time in single 
or double drills, at the rate of eight to twenty acres per 
day. By using the Thomas harrow a few days after 
planting, every young weed will be killed, and the crust, 
which so often gathers upon the surface, will be broken 
up and the surface mellowed. The harrow may be used 
without damage until the corn is several inches high. 
Then anyone of the many excellent horse hoes may be 
used by which the weeds may be cut out of the rows close 
5 



98 FARM CONVEKIENCES. 

to the corn until thocroii is so high that farther working 
is useless. This method of cultivation may cost two dol- 
lars per acre, or less, as the ground may have been kept 
free from weeds in previous years, while on the old-fash- 
ioned system it may cost ten dollars per acre, or more, as 
the weeds may have been allowed to get further ahead. 
Nevertheless, there are farmers who will still work on 
the hand-to-mouth plan, and will still mark out their 
crops by a marker and drop the seed by hand. For these 
it will be convenient to have at least a good marker. It 
will mark uneven as well as level ground ; it can be set 
to any width between rows ; any farmer or smart boy 
can make it, and the inventor, who is a faimer in Can- 
ada, does not pi'opose to patent it. The marker is made 
of two by four scantling, one piece being eight feet long. 
In this five holes are bored, one for each of the runners, 
one and one-eighth inch in diameter. The runners are 
also of tw^o by four timber, and eighteen inches long. 
Holes one and one-eighth inch in diameter are bored 
through the runners, in which are placed hard wood 
pins fourteen inches long. These are driven in from the 
bottom, the ends being left broad, so that they may not 
pass through the holes, and projecting an inch and a 
half. This is shown in figure 76. The small pin which 
passes through the larger one serves to connect the run- 
ner with the principal timber, and by shifting the large 
pin from one hole to another, the runners may be brought 
from four feet to one foot, or even six inches apart, and 
made to mark rows of widths increasing by spaces of six 
inches up to four feet. When one of the markers meets 
with an obstruction it is lifted by it, as seen in figure 77, 
and passes over it. A guide marker is fixed by a hinge 
to one of the outside runners, and carries a scraper which 
is held in place by a pin, by moving which the distance 
of the next row may be regulated. A pair of light shafts 



FAR3I COXVENIEKCES. 



may be attached to the marker, and a pair of handles bj 
which it may be guided. 



FEED TROUGH AND HALTER. 
The trough rests on the floor and is four feet long. 
A, A, are inch auger holes ; a Yo-pe, four feet long, is put 
through them and tied. Another rope, D, has a ring 




FEED TKOl'GH AND HALTEU. 



spliced on one end, and a ^'snap-hook*' on the other. 
The longer rope passes through the ring, B, and when 
the rope, D, is put over the hecjvof the cow, the ^*snap," 
C, hooks into the ring. This allows the animal to stand 
or lie down with comfort. 



THE HORSE-SHOE AND ITS APPLICATION. 

Any excess of growth at tlie toe renders the pasterns 
more oblique, and, as a consequence, throws undue 
weight upon the ^^back sinews," whereas, too great 
height of heels has a similar effect upon the joints cf 
the extremities, by rendering them too upright. Tak- 
ing as our guide the foot of the animal that has never 
been brought to the forge, and which, in consequence, 
must be considered as a correct model, let the external 



100 FAKM CONVENIEKCES. 

« 

wall of the hoof be reduced by means of the rasp to a 
level with the firm iinpared sole. If there is no growth 
of the external wall beyond this level, then there is 
nothing to be removed. 

In the selection of a shoe for the healthy foot, we 
must bear in mind the object in view, which is to pro- 
tect the parts from excessive wear. This protection is 
to be found in a metallic rim of proper size and shape, 
securely adjusted. Almost every shoe in common use 
meets this end more or less satisfactorily, and we have 
already remarked that the proper preparation of the foot 
that has been previously shod is of vastly more impor- 
tance than the particular kind of slioe to be adopted. 
At the same time, there are faults in the shoe most com- 
monly emplo3^ed, which had their origin in its particular 
adaj)tation to the foot after this had undergone more 
or less severe mutilation at the hands of the farrier, and 
which have been retained more through custom than 
through actual necessity, as we have reason to hope. 
The most prominent of these faults consists in extreme 
narrowness of rim with a concavity upon the upper or 
foot surface, in order to prevent the sole from sus- 
taining least Aveight or pressure, which it is perfectly 
unfitted to do after being pared down to a point of sensi- 
tiveness. In a state of nature we know that every por- 
tion of the foot comes to the ground and sustains its 
share of weight, and in the shod state it should do the 
same, as far as practicable. Hence, the shoe should be 
constructed with its upper surface perfectly flat, and 
with a breadth sufiicient to protect a portion of the sole, 
and to sustain weight. It should be bevelled upon the 
ground surface, in imitation of the concavity of the sole, 
and not upon its upper surface, where the space thus 
formed serves as a lodging place for small stones and 
other foreign bodies. In shape it should follow the ex- 



FAEM CONVENIENCES. 



101 



act outline of the outer wall, being narrowed at the heels, 
but continued of the same thickness throughout. The 
lateral projection at the quarters, and the posterior one 
at the heels are unsightly, of no benefit, and should 
never be allowed where speed is required. 



HOW TO MAKE A FISHING SCOW. 

Boat-building should be done during the winter, when 
in-door work is more agreeable, and leisure is more 
ample, than in the summer. A boy who can handle 
tools, may make a very handsome boat or scow, such as 




Fig. 79.— VIEW OF FISHING SCOW. 

is shown at figure 79, at a cost of five dollars or less, in 
the following manner. Procure five three-quarter^or 
half-inch clear pine boards, twelve feet in length and 
eight inches wide ; four boards ten feet long, one inch 
thick, and one foot wide, and three strips ten feet long, 
one and a quarter-inch thick, and three inches wide. 
Plane all these smoothly on both sides, and have them 
all free from loose knots or shakes. Cut two of the one- 
inch boards sloping at each end to a straight line for two 
feet, and then slightly rounding the middle of the board. 
Cat two pieces of the one and a quarter-inch strips into 
lengths of two feet ten inches, and nail them to the 
ends of the side-boards, as shown in figure 80. If 
strips of soft brown paper are dipped into tar and placed 



102 



FAKM CONVEIn^IEKCES. 



between the joints, they will be made closer and more 
water-tight. Cut the eight-inch boards into three feet 
lengtlis, and nail them across the bottom, as shown in 
figure 80 ; where the bev^ ends, the two bottom boards 
must be bevelled slightly upon one of their edges, so as 
to make a close joint. Then take two of the one and 




PUTTING ON THE BOTT(^M. 



a quarter-inch strips, and make cuts in each on one side 
with the saw, one inch deep, as follows : measuring from 
one end, n-Kirk with a pencil across the strip three feet 
six inches from the end ; then mark again across the 
strip one inch and a half from the first mark, and score 
Ij^etween these marks with an x . Then measure three 
inches and make another mark, and then an inch and 
a half and make still another mark, and score as before 
between these last two with an x . Then do precisely 
the same on the same side of the strip, measuring from 
the other end. Then on tlie edges of the board score with 
gauge or make a line with a pencil exactly one inch from 
tlie mtirked side. Then make the cuts on the pencil 
lilies down to the score on the edge, just one inch deep, 
but no more. Cut away the wood in the places that 
Were marked with au x , leaving four slots one inch and 
a half wide, one inch deep, and with three inches be- 
tween them ujoon each strip. Xail these strips with the 
cut side inwards, to the upper edge of the side-hoard, 
on the outside of the boat, as seen in figure 81. The 
spaces left in the gunwales are for the rowlocks. The 



FARM COXYEKIEKCES. 



lua 



strips should be well nailed near the rowlocks, and if 
a quarter-inch, flat-headed, counter-sunk carriage-bolt 
were used on each side of them, it would be yery much 
better than so many nails. A thin washer, or burr, 
should be used beneath the nut of each bolt. The row- 
lock pins should be made of hard maple or oak, in the 
shape shown at a, figure 81. They are one inch thick, 
one and a half inch wide at the lower part, which fits 
into the slot, with a shoulder of half an inch, and the 
top is bevelled off neatly as shown. The seats, of which 




Fig. 81. — INTEUIOK OF BOAT. 

there are two, are made ten inches wide. The cleats for 
the seats, one inch thick, one and a half inch wide, and 
ten inches long, are nailed three inches below the uj)per 
edge of the side-board. The middle seat goes exactly 
in the centre of the boat, with each edge four feet seyen 
inches from the end of the boat. The end seats are 



104 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

placed with the backs two feet from the ends of the 
boat, leaving eight inches between each seat and the 
edge of the rowlock nearest to it. There are cleats for 
three seats, but only two seats arc used at once. When 
one seat is used, the rower sits in tlie centre, and he can 
use either of the rowlocks, the boat being double-bowed. 
When two seats are used, one person only rows at one 
time, but either can row without changing seats, and 
one always faces to the direction in which the boat 
moves. This arrangement of seats is very convenient. 
Eighteen inches of each end is closed in, and makes a 
locker for holding fish-lines, hooks, or the *^^ painter," 
which is a light rope for tying up the boat when not in 
use. This may be fastened to a ring-bolt or a hole 
bored in one of the locker covers. The long bottom- 
board, seen in figure 81, eight inches wide and half an 
inch thick, is nailed as shown, by wrought nails driven 
from the outside and clinched on the inside. The seat 
cleats are nailed in the same rianner, as are also the side 
strips. Every nail is counter-sunk and the hole filled 
up with putty. The seams are puttied or filled with a 
strip of cotton sheeting pushed in with the blade of a 
dinner knife. If the joints are made as well as they may 
be, this is not needed, but two coats of paint will make 
all tight. The inside should be painted lead-color, 
made by mixing lampblack with white paint to a proper 
shade. The outside may be painted white or a light- 
green, with the gunwale of a light- blue. A few daj^s 
will be required to harden the paint before using the 
boat. None but seasoned boards should be used. 



CROWS AND SCARECROWS. 



Probably there is no point upon which a gathering of 
half a dozen farmers will have more positive opinions 



FARil coxye:n'iexces. 105 

than as to the relations of the crow to agriculture. It 
is likely that five of these will regard the bird as totally 
bad, Avhile the minority of one will claim that he is all 
good. As usual, the truth lies between the extremes. 
There is no doubt that the crow loves corn, and knows 
that at the base of the tender shoot there is a soft, sweet 
kernel. But the black-coated bird is not altogether a 
yegetarian. The days in which he can pull young corn 
are few, but the larger part of the year he is really the 
friend of the farmer. One of the worst insect pests with 
which the farmer, fruit-grower, or other cultivator has 
to contend is, the ^' White Grub,*' the larva of the ''May 
Beetle," ''June Bug," or "Dor-Bug." It is as well 
established as any fact can be, that the crow is able to 
detect this grub while it is at work upon the roots of 
grass in meadows and lawns, and will find and grub it 
out. For this service alone the crow should be every- 
where not only spared, but encouraged. We are too apt 
to judge by appearances ; when a crow is seen busy in a 
field, it is assumed that it is doing mischief, and by a 
constant warfare against, not only crows, but skunks, 
owls, and others that are hastily assumed to be wholly 
bad, the injurious insects, mice, etc., that do the 
farmer real harm have greatly increased. Shortly after 
corn is j)lantecl, the crows appear, and are destructive to 
young corn. Some assert that the crow pulls up the 
corn plant merely to get at the grub which would destroy 
it if the bird did not. How true this may be we do not 
know, but as the corn is destroyed in either case, it may 
be as well to let it go without help from the crow. The 
first impulse of the farmer, when he finds his corn j^ulled 
up, is to shoot the crow. This we protest against. Even 
admitting that the crow does mischief for a short time, 
it is too useful for the rest of the year to be thus cut 
down in active life. Let him live for the good he has 



106 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

done and may do. It is vastly better to keep the crows 
from pulling the young corn, for two or three weeks, 
and allow them all the rest of the year to destroy bugs 
%nd beetles in astonishing numbers. The corn may be 
protected by means of '^scarecrows/' of which there are 
several very effective kinds. Crows are very keen, and 
are not easily fooled ; they quickly understand the or- 
dinai7 '''dummy,-' or straw man, which soon fails to be 
of service in the corn-field. It has no life, no motion, 
and makes no noise, and the crow soon learns this and 
comes and sits upon its outstretched arm, or pulls the 
corn vigorously at its feet. A dead crow, hung by a 
swinging cord to a long slender j)ole, is recommended as 
far better than a straw man — as it, in its apparent strug- 
gles to get away, appeals impressively to the living crow's 
sense of caution. But the crow may not be at hand to 
be thus employed, and if it were, the farmer cannot 
afford to kill it. Better than a dead crow is a glass bot- 
tle with the bottom knocked out, which may be done 
with an iron rod. The bottle is suspended to an elastic 
pole by a cord tied around its neck ; the end of the cord 
should extend downward into the bottle, and have a nail 
fastened to it and within the bottle, to serve as a clapper. 
If a piece of bright tin be attached to the cord extending 
below the bottomless end of the bottle, all the better. 
A slight breeze will cause the tin to whirl, and, in the 
motion, cast bright reflections rapidly in all directions, 
while the nail keeps up a rattling against the inside of 
the bottle. An artificial '' bird," to be hung in the same 
manner, may be made from a piece of cork — one used in 
a pickle- jar — into which a number of large goose or 
chicken feaithers are fastened so as to roughly imitate a 
dilapidated bird. A rough head may be carved and put 
on, to make the deception more complete. As this 
"bird" catches the wind, it will ''fly" here and there 



FARM COXVEXIEKCES. 



107 



in a peculiar manner not at all enticing to the corn- 



loving crows. 



FLOOD FENCE. 

The weak point of a fence is where it crosses a stream ; 
a sudden freshet washes away loose rails, and a gap is 




Fil^. 82. — A FLOOD GATE. 

left through which trespassing cattle soon find a passage. 
Many devices have been used. The one shown in figure 
82 is self-acting: when water rises high enough, it opens, 
and when the flood falls it closes again. It may be made 
of rails, bars, or fence strips. 



.CLEARING SLOUGH LAND. 

In clearing up land that is covered with tussocks of 
coarse grass and a tough sod, and digging out ditches 
to drain such land, much useless labor may be given 
that could be spared by skilful work. The spade is 
commonly used for this purpose, but, as in digging dry 
ground, this slow tool may be replaced to very great 
advantage by the plow and the horse-sliovel. In work- 



108 



FARM COXVKKIENCES. 



ing in swamps these more effective tools may be made 
available in many cases. To cnt off the tassocks with 
grub-hoes, while they are tough in the summer time, is 
very hard and slow work ; but if a common horse-scraper 
is used they can be torn up, or cut off, with the greatest 
ease. The scraper should be furnished with a sharp 
steel-cutting blade in the front, which may be riveted 
on, or fastened with bolts, so that it may be taken off 
and ground sharp. If there are wet and soft places the 
scraper may be drawn by a chain of sufficient length to 




Fig. 83.— THE HORSE-SnOVEL AT WOKK. 

keep the horse upon dry ground, as shown in figure 83. 
This plan has been tried by the writer with success, and 
with a great saving of time and expense ; the digging of 
a pond twenty feet wide along the edge of a swamp, w\as 
performed with one man, a boy, a team, and a horse- 
shovel, as quickly as ten men could have done it with 
spades. In cutting tough swamp, the plow may be used 
to break up the surface when the horse-shovel will re- 
move the muck very fast. If the swamp is wet, and 



FARM COKVEKIEi^CES. 



109 



water flows in the excavation, the digging may still be 
done with the horse-scraper by adding to the length of 
the handles and using planks upon each side for the 
man to stand upon, and planks upon the inner side of 
the excavation for the scraper to slide upon with its load 
of muck. The muck maybe thrown in heaps on the side 
of the pond or ditches, and it will be found convenient 
to leave it upon one side instead of in a continuous heap, 
as this will greatly facilitate its final disposal in what- 
ever way that may be. 



HOW TO DRESS A BEEF. 



There is a way of slaughtering that is not butchering, 
and it may be done painlessly by taking the right course. 
The barn floor or a clean grass-plot in a convenient spot 




Fig. 84.— THE TKOPER PLACE TO STRIKE. 

will be a suitable place for the work. To fasten the an- 
imal, put a strong rope around the horns, and secure the 
head in such a way that it cannot be moved to any great 
distance, and in a position to allow a direct blow to be 
easily given. The eyes may be blinded by tying a cloth 
around the head so that there will be no dodging to 



110 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



avoid the stroke. The place for the stunning blow is 
the centre of the forehead, between the eyes and a little 
above tliem. The right place is shown at «, figure 84. 
The best method is to fire a ball from a rifle in tlie exact 
spot, and this may be done safely when the animal is 
blinded, by holding the weapon near to the head, so that a 
miss cannot be made ; otherwise a blow with the back of an 
axe made when the striker is on the right side of the animal, 
and the head is fastened down near the ground, will be 
equally effective. So soon as the animal falls, the throat 
is divided with a cut from a long, sharp knife ; no jack- 
knife should be used, but a long, deep, sweeping stroke 




Fig. 85.— KACK roil a carcass of beef, 

which reaches to the vertebrae as the head is held back. 
This divides all the blood-vessels, and death is almost in- 
stantaneous, but at any rate painless. AYhen the carcass 
has been freed from blood, it should be turned on its back, 
and the skin divided from the throat up the brisket, 
along the belly to the legs, and up the legs to the knees, 
where the joints should be severed, taking care, how- 
ever, to cut off the hind feet below the hock joints 



FARM CO^STYEKIEKCES. Ill 

about two or three inches. The skin is then stripped 
from the legs and belJy, and as near to the back as may 
be by turning the carcass. The belly is then opened, 
and the intestines taken out ; the brisket is cut through, 
and the lungs and gullet remoyed. It is now necessary 
to raise the carcass. This is done on the rack, the for- 
ward legs of which are placed on each side of the car- 
cass, and the gambrels are placed upon the hooks shown 
in figure 85. The legs of the rack are then raised as far 
as possible, and as the carcass is lifted, the hinder leg is 
brought up to hold what is gained until the carcass is 
clear of the ground ; the hide is then wholly removed, 
the carcass washed and scraped from anything adhering, 
and then divided down through the backbone, leaving 
the sides hanging. As a matter of safety from dogs or 
other dishonest animals, it is well to have the work done 
in the barn, laying down a quantity of straw to protect 
the floor, if thought necessary, as the beef should re- 
main at least twelve hours to cool and set. 



A FARM CART. 

While there are different kinds of farm carts, we 
have not yet hit upon the curt — i. e., one that meets with 
general approbation. The writer, having much work 
for a cart, has designed one which is intended to do all 
the work of the farm more easily than a wagon or any 
other cart. For the carriage of manure, of fodder-corn, 
green clover, or other soiling fodder, for hauling roots 
and such work, a cart u needed with a low body, that 
can be turned around in its own length to back, or even 
turn in a manure cellar or on a barn floor. All this can 
be done with this cart, and when hay, straw, or green 
fodder is to be loaded, the fore and hind racks may be 



Im: 



112 FARM COKVEIs'IEIs^CES. 

put on, and greatly increase its capacity. With four-inch 
wheels, this cart can be drawn, when loaded, over 
plowed ground or muddy roads, and scarcely sink below 
the surface. The cart body consists of a frame eight 
feet long, three and a half feet wide, and fourteen inches 
deep, thus holding, when heaped, about a cubic yard 
and a half of manure, or as near as possible one ton. 
The frame is made of three by four timber for the top, 
and two by three for the bottom, sides, and cross-bars, 
and is covered with bass-wood or willow boards on the 
bottom, the front, and the sides near the wheels. The 
rear end is closed when desired by 
a sliding tail-board. The axles are 
P fixed to the frame, as shown in 

figure 86, and pass through the 
middle side posts under the upper 
slide bar and a wide iron strap, 
Fig. 86.-AXLE FA«T- ^j^.^^^ embraces the top of the 

frame, and passes under the bot- 
tom, as shown in the engraving, being screwed by 
bolts to the timbers. The wheel is the same size as an 
ordinary wagon Avheel, viz., four feet ; this brings the 
bottom of the cart body to within one foot of the 
ground, and in loading, the lift is only a little more 
than two feet from the ground. The saving of labor 
and the effect of work are thus greatly increased, a 
man being able to load twice as much with the same 
force, into a cart of this kind, as into a wagon-box 
four feet high. The rear end of the cart may be 
provided with a roller, fitted into the rear posts, which 
serves to ease the unloading of the cart when it is tipped, 
the rear end then easily moving over the ground as the 
cart is drawn over the field when unloading manure. 
But as the cart body is so low there will rarely be any 
need for tipping the cart. To enlarge its capacity, there 



FARM COKVENIEi^CES. 



113 



are movable racks fitted before and behind, as shown 
in figure 87. Tlie cost of two of these carts is not 
more than that of a wagon, and may be less, if economy 




Fig. 87 



-THE CAKT WITH MOVABLE RACKS. 



is exercised in making them. The shafts may be bolted 
to the sides and so arranged that the cart can be tipped 
over when the load requires it. 



BRACES FOR A GATE POST. 

On the side of the post, and near the surface of the 
ground, spike an inverted bracket, made of a two-inch 
plank of white oak, or other hard wood. The bracket 




Fig. 88.— BRACIXG A GATE POST. 

should be not less than six inches wide, and a foot long. 
There should be two of these braces, one on the gate 



114 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



side of the post when the gate is shut, and one on the 
gate side when open. Under the bracket place a flat 
stone firmly settled in the ground, on which the bottom 
of the bracket is to rest ; a piece of plank, as long as it 
lasts, will do instead of the stone. 

The hang of the gate can then be exactly adjusted by 
putting a thin stone or piece of wood between the bot- 
tom of the bracket and the flat stone or plank. This is 
a simple and effective method of supporting a post, 
where there is no other convenient way of bracing, and 
even in almost all cases, it gives additional firmness. If 
the lower end of the post is of good size, and is well put 
in, this method of bracing will hold a very heavy gate. 



WHIPPLE-TREES FOR PLOWING CORN SAFELY. 



We have found it beneficial to cultivate our corn crop 
until the rows become impassable 
for a horse, or until it was four 
feet or more high. But to do this 
with the wide whipple-tree, the 
ends of which project beyond the 
traces, and break down the stalks, 
is impossible. It may, however, be 
done by using a whipple-tree spe- 
cially provided for it. This is 
made as follows : a piece of oak 
timber, two inches thick, three 
wide, and twenty inches long, is rounded at the corners, 
and deeply grooved at the ends, so that the trace-chains 
may be entirely imbedded in the grooves. A small hole 
is bored through each end, into which a small carriage 
bolt is inserted, being made to pass through a link of the 
trace-chain, and it is then fastened beneath with a nut. 




—WHIPPLE-TREE. 



FARM coxve:n^iekces. 115 

The trace-chains should be covered with leather where 
they will rub against the corn, and a flap of leather 
should be left to cover the front corners of the whij^ple- 
tree, as shown in figure 89. A ring or an open link is 
fastened at the part of the chain which is attached to 
the clevis, and one at each end by which it is hooked to 
the traces. With this arrangement one may cultivate 
his corn without injury, and the same method may be 
applied to the whipple-trees, for plowing or cultivating 
amongst trees in the orchard or garden. 



WHAT TREES TO PLANT FOR FUEL AND TIMBER. 

The attention of our people in the older States is being 
very properly turned to planting rocky ridges and worn- 
out pastures with forest trees. This work is done by 
those who have no expectation of cutting the timber 
themselves, but with a view to improve their jDroperty 
for future sale, or for their heirs. These old pastures 
now are worth 110, or less, per acre. Forty or fifty 
years hence, covered with heavy timber, they would be 
worth three hundred dollars, or more, per acre. Two 
elements may safely enter into this calculation of the 
profit of tree planting : the steady growth of the trees, 
and the constant increase in the price of fuel and tim- 
ber. There is great difference in the price of the varie- 
ties of wood, but still more in the rapidity of their 
growth. Hickory grows more rapidly than white oak, 
and in most markets is worth a quarter more for fuel. 
Chestnut grows about three times as fast as the white 
oak, and for many purposes makes quite as good timber. 
It is in great demand by ship-builders, and cabinet- 
makers. The chestnut, the tulip tree, and the hickory 
attain a good size for timber in twenty to twenty-five 



116 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



years, and the spruce and pine need about fifty years. 
The maples grow quite rapidly, and are highly prized, 
both for fuel and for cabinet purposes. On light sandy 
land, the wliite pine will grow rapidly, and cannot fail 
to be a good investment for the next generation. As a 
rule, the more rapid growing trees, if the wood is valua- 
ble, will pay better than the oaks. 



TO STEADY PORTABLE MILLS. 

Figure 90 shows a contrivance for steadying portable 
mills, whicb has been used for several years. It is an 
iron rod of suitable size, about a 
foot long, fastened by iron brack- 
ets to the leg, or post of the mill. 
Three or four inches of the rod is a 
screw, and fits one of the brackets 
through whicli it runs, and can be 
turned up or down. The lower end 
of the rod is pointed, and the upper 
end squared, that it may be turned 
with a wrench. The rod is fastened 
Fig. 90.— LEG OF MILL, firmly to the side of the post (one 
on each of the forward posts), and turned down so that 
the point shall enter the floor sufficiently to hold it 
firmly. 




SPLITTING RAILS AND POSTS. 

Autumn is the best season for cutting timber, as 
many farmers have learned by experience. The season- 
ing process is much more perfect, because there is no 
layer of growing sap wood. Insects do not work in 
autumn cut timber, as in that cut in the spring or sum- 
mer, and the wood does not "powder post." It is best 
to split the logs into rails or posts at once, and not v. ait 



FARM CON"VEKIE]^CES. 117 

until the timber has become seasoned in the log. The 
logs will split easier, the rails will season quicker, 
and be more durable. The splitting of rails is a work 
thcit requires good judgment, otherwise much timber 
will be wasted. Some persons will make rails that are 
large at one end, and gradually tapering to a sliyer at 
the other, and are worthless for fencing purposes. Set 
the wedge at the toj) end of the log, after first ^'check- 
ing " with the axe, by driving with the beetle, so as to 
divide the log into two equal parts. Now drive in two 
wedges, as shown in figure 91, both at the same time. 
Next use a wooden wedge or *^glut," either in the end 
of the log, or on the top a little back from the end. After 
halving the log, quarter it, and then proceed on the 
principle that a rail should be about three by three 
inches. The size of the log will determine the number 
of rails to be made. For example, in figure 92, six rails 
are made by first halving the quarter, then splitting off 
the inner part half-way from the centre, and afterwards 
halving the outer part. Should the logs be larger, 
twelve rails are made from each quarter, as shown in 
figure 93, — or forty-eight rails from the log. In split- 
ting logs into posts, a broad and smooth side is to be 
sought. Suppose we have the same sized log as the one 
split into forty-eight rails, or 
twelve rails per quarter, figure 
93 — the splitting would be, in 
each case, from the centre to 
outside with cross splitting mid- 
way. The number of posts would 
be determined by the size of the 
posts desired. If the logs are of 
the size of the quarter, shown in 
L. -POSITION OF fig^^re 92, there is no cross split- 
WEDGE. ting, unless a small piece for a 




118 ^ FARM COXVENIENCES. 

Stake is taken from the centre. When the logs are only 
large enough for four posts, and a broad surface is de- 
sired, as in bar posts, they may be split by first ^^ slab- 
bing," and afterwards splitting through the centre ; all 
the split surfaces to be parallel. If still smaller, three 





Fig. 92. Fig. 93. 

posts can be made, by splitting off two slabs on opposite 
sides, as in the case above, and not divide the heart, and 
finally when the log will make only two, it can be 
halved. 



A MIXTURE OF GRASSES. 

It is a well-known fact that mixed crops are more pro- 
ductive than those sown singly. Thus one acre sown to 
oats and barley, or oats and peas, will yield as much, or 
nearly as much, as two acres sown singly to either crop. 
So in grass lands. Clover and Timothy, mixed, will pro- 
duce nearly twice as much as if the ground were seeded 
to one of these alone. It is also a well-knowji fact tliat 
our grass lands are not so productive as we could wish, 
and the reason of this may be, and probably is, that we 
have but one or two kinds of herbage in them. If we 
examine an old, thick, luxuriant sod, in a pasture or a 
meadow, it will be found to consist of a variety of grasses 
and other plants, each of which seems to vie with the 
other in occupying the soil for itself. This is the result 
of natural seeding, and gives us a lesson wdiich we may 
well profit by. There is another reason why grasses 
should be mixed ; this is that the periods of greatest 



FARM CONVEKIENCES. 119 

vigor of different varieties occur at different times. We 
can therefore secure a succession of herbage for a long 
season by sowing a variety of grass seeds. 

To give examples, we might mention that a mixture 
of Orchard Grass, Red Clover, Timothy, and Kentucky 
Blue-Grass will produce a pasture which will be in good 
condition for grazing from April, when the first men- 
tioned grass is in fine condition, up to October, when 
the last is in its most vigorous state ; the Clover and 
Timothy serving to fill up the interval. With one of 
these alono there Avould be but one month of good herb- 
age, and that coarse, if given the whole field to itself. In 
like manner, a quantity of Rye Grass added to a meadow 
would help to furnish a quick gi'owing herbage which 
rapidly and constantly recuperates after cutting or eat- 
ing down. 

The fact is, that we make much less of our advantages 
in regard to our meadows and pastures than we might. 
On the average, seven acres of pasture are required to 
keep one cow through the pasturing season, when by the 
best management one acre, or at the most two, ought to 
be sufficient. This is due in great measure to the prev- 
alent fashion of seeding down with but one variety of 
grass, with clover added sometimes, a fashion which, 
hereafter, experience teaches us should be more honored 
in the breach than in the observance. 



HlTCHINa A CRIB-BITER. 

Those persons who have a horse that is a crib-biter and 
windsucker, and which practices his vice when hitched 
to a post in the street, is recommended to try a hitching- 
rod, such as shown in figure 94 It consists of a piece 
of hickory, white oak, or tough ash, about twenty- four 



120 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

or thirty inches long, thickest in the middle, where it 
may be an inch in diameter. A ferule with a ring is fast- 
ened to each end ; in one ring a common snap- 
hook is fixed, and a short leather strap is passed 
through the other, by which the stick is fast- 
ened to the post. The horse thus hitched can- 
not possibly reach the top of the post, to seize 
it with its teeth. In the stall such a horse 
should be hitched with two straps, one at each 
side of the stall, and of such a length that ho 
cannot reach either side to take hold of the rail 
or partition of the stall. If a swinging feed-box 
is used, the crib-biter will be forced to suspend 
operations, as he cannot draw in the air or "suck 
wind," unless he has some projecting object 
that he can lay hold of with the teeth. 




HOW TO INCREASE VEGETABLE MATTER 
IN THE SOIL, 

The amount of vegetable matter in the soil 
may be increased by various methods ; one is 
by large applications of barn-yard manure, say 
fifty cords to the acre. But this would be very 
^^' ' expensive, and is out of the question in com- 
mon farming. It may be done by putting on peat or 
muck, when these are near to the fields. But this 
involves a considerable outlay for labor in digging 
the peat, and a still larger expense in carting it, whether 
it first pass through the yards and stables, or be carted 
to the fields for composting or spreading upon the sur- 
face to be plowed in. On some farms this may be the 
cheaper method of supplying vegetable matter to the 
soil. But on others the most economical method is the 
raising of clover, to be fed off upon tlie land, or to be 



FARM COKVEJ^IElN^CES. 121 

turned in. If a ton of cloyer may be worth nine dollars, 
as a fertilizer, the growing of the plant is a cheap 
method of improving the land. Two tons for the first 
crop and a ton for the second is not an uncommon yield 
for land in good heart. The roots of clover also add 
largely to the vegetable matter in the soil. The first 
crop may be pastured, waiting until the crop is in blos- 
som, and then turning in cattle enough to feed it off in 
three or four weeks. They should be kept constantly 
upon the field, that the whole crop may be returned to 
the soil. This will, of course, help the second crop, 
which maybe turned in with the plow soon after it is in 
blossom. If the equivalent of three tons of dried clover 
hay, and one ton of roots have been grown to the acre, 
about thirty-six dollars' worth of manure have been added 
to the soil, and it has been distributed more evenly than 
would have been possible by any mechanical process. 
There has been no expense for carting and spreading 
peat, or for composting. On the contrary, there has 
been the equivalent of two tons of clover-hay consumed 
upon the field, worth, as fodder, twenty-four dollars. 
This will more than pay the cost of seed, of plowing 
twice and other labor. This is generally admitted to be 
the cheapest method of increasing the vegetable matter 
and the fertility of soils in common farming. And this, 
it will be seen, requires some little capital. 



OPEN LIXKS. 

An open link, shown in figure 95, is made of three- 
eighth inch iron rod, and when used to connect a broken 
chain, is simply closed by a blow from a hammer or a stone. 
There being no rivet, the link is not weakened in any 
way. Figure 96 shows another link, made of malleable 
cast-iron, in two parts, which are fastened together 



122 



FAK31 CONVENIENCES. 



by a rivet in the centre. A few of these links may be 
carried in the pocket, and are ready for instant use in 
case of an emergency. The last-mentioned links are 




Fig:. 95.— common link. 




kept for sale at the hardware stores ; the first named may 
be made in a short time by a blacksmith, or any farmer 
who has a workshop and a portable forge. 



CARE OF THE ROOT CROPS. 

Sugar beets and mangels, if early sowed, will need 
little care. They ouglit not to stand too thick, how- 
ever, and it would certainly pay to go through the rows, 
thinning out all superfluous plants, whether beets or 
weeds, leaving the plants six to eight inches apart. If 
the leaves are not so large as to forbid horse-hoeing, 
this should be done and the crop "laid-by." No root 
crop should ever be left after horse-hoeing, without a 
man going through it immediately after, to lift and 
straighten up any plants which may have been trodden 
upon, covered with earth, or injured in any way. Euta- 
bagas, and any turnips in drills, need the same general 
culture. One of the great advantages of the introduc- 



FAEM C0:N'TE:N^IE2sCES. 123 

tion of roots into the rotation is that, when properly 
treated, no weeds ripen seeds. Even red sorrel and 
snaj^dragon succumb to two or three years' cropping with 
mangels or Swedes. This advantage is often lost by 
careless cultivators, and nothing offers surer evidence 
of heedless farming. The crop itself may be very fine, 
but if kept clear of weeds it would be enough better to 
pay for the trouble, and the weeds would then be where 
they will make no more trouble forever. 

Turnips may be sown as late as the middle of August, 
but the land, should be in good heart, and good tilth. 
Swedish turnips (rutabagas) sowed, as late as the first of 
August, will usually make a crojD delicious for the table, 
and, though small, bring a good price. Thus they are 
often used to follow early potatoes by market gardeners, 
though by them usually regarded as a farm crop. 



TRAP FOR SHEEP-KILLING DOGS. 

In many places the losses by dogs are so great as to 
prevent the keeping of sheep altogether ; thus this profit- 
able and agreeable industry is made impracticable over 
the greater portion of the country ; unless such pre- 
cautions are taken as will add greatly to its trouble and 
cost. With small flocks only, this extra cost and trouble 
are too onerous, and it is only where sheep are kept in 
large flocks that it will pay to employ shepherds to con- 
stantly watch them, or take other necessary precautions. 
In scT^ral of the States — West Virginia and Tennessee 
more particularly — very stringent laws have recently 
been enacted for the protection of sheep against dogs, 
which will go far to encourage the raising of flocks. In 
other States, where the influence of the owners of dogs is 
of more weight than that of sheep-owners, these latter 



124 



FARM COI^VENIENCES. 



are obliged to look out for themselves, and protect their 
sheep as they may be able. For sucli the contrivance 
here described and illustrated, may be useful. It is 
made as follows : In the meadow or field, where sheep 
are pastured during the day, a small pen, eight feet 
square, is made, and fenced strongly with pickets or 
boards. This pen is divided into two parts (A, B, figure 
97) by a cross-fence. The pen is wholly covered over 




Fig. 97.— TRAP FOR SHEEP-KILLING DOGS. 

on the top with strong lath. Two gates [a, h,) are made 
so that they will swing open of their own accord, and 
remain so, unless held closed or fastened. The gate, a, 
is furnished with a latch, by which it is fastened when 
closed. This gate is intended to admit the dog into the 



FARM COXVEXIENCES. 125 

part of the pen, A, when he is attracted to it by a sheep 
confined for the purpose in the other part of the pen (B). 
In the part of the pen, A, is a heavy board, reaching 
across it. One edge of this board rests upon the ground 
against two pegs, which keep it from slipping backwards. 
The other edge is kept up by means of two shaky slender 
supports. A rope is fastened to the upper edge of this 
board, and to the gates, so that one half of it^ when the 
board is propped up, allows the gate, a, to swing open, 
and the other half holds the gate, d, shut, and thus keeps 
the sheep confined. The trap is now set. A dog, prowl- 
ing in search of mutton, finds the sheep, and seeks an 
entry into the pen. He finds the open gate, and rushes 
in, oyer the board set upon its edge, and knocks this 
down. This closes the gate, a, which is at once latched 
and fastened. The gate, b, is allowed to swing open, and 
the sheep is liberated, and, of course, proceeds home- 
ward without delay, while the dog is imprisoned. We 
need not suggest any method of dealing with the pris- 
oner, as there are many, more or less effective, which 
will suggest themselves. We think it would be an im- 
provement upon this plan, if tlie sheep be confined in 
the pen, where it can be seen by the dogs, and an addi- 
tional ai^artment, if not more than one, made, in which 
other dogs could be trapped. Sheep-hunting dogs usually 
go in cou]3les, and if only one dog were trapped, the 
sheep escaping from the pen would be caught by the 
other before it could reach home. With two or three 
traps all the dogs could be caught, and in a short time 
the locality would he rid of them, or, being identified, 
their owners could be made responsible for their tres- 
passes. It would be necessary to have the pen made 
very strong, so that the dogs should not tear their way 
out of the trap, or into the pen in which the sheep is 
confined. Stout wire-netting would make a safe fence. 



12G FARM COXA'EKIENCES. 

So far as regards what are called dog-laws, it would be 
well if these should provide, amongst other things, that 
every dog must wear a collar, bearing its owner's name ; 
that the owner of any dog which is caught in jDursuit of 
sheej^ upon the property of any person other than the 
owner of the dog, should be held liable for damages for 
the trespass, and that any dog caught tresj^assing, and 
being without a collar bearing its owner's name, should 
be destroyed by the person capturing it. As any citizen 
has as much righ t to keep a dog as another has to keep 
a sheep, without being taxed for it, and can only be held 
liable for what damage his dog may do, it does not seem 
just that any tax should be levied upon dogs. The only 
just claim that can be made by a slieep-owner is that he 
shall be protected in the enjoyment of his property, and 
that the person by or through whom he is injured should 
recompense him. In the case of irresponsible owners 
of dogs, from whom no recovery can be made, the dogs 
should be destroyed by a proper officer. If the right of 
persons to keep dogs, when they wish to do so, without 
being taxed, is recognized in this manner, much of the 
opposition to the enactment of what are called ^^ dog- 
laws," would be removed, and the protection of sheep 
made much less difficult, and productive of much greater 
profit. 



HOW TO USE A FILE PROPERLY. 

The file is very frequently used in such an imperfect 
manner as to greatly reduce its value as a mechanical 
tool. The chief difficulty in using a file is in keeping 
it in a perfectly horizontal position as it is moved over 
the work, and in maintaining an equable pressure upon 
the work meanwhile. Perhaps the most difficult work 
in filing, and that which is most frequently ill-done, is 



FARM C0:N"VE]S"IEXCES. 



127 



in sharpening saws. The bearing of the file upon the 
work is yery narrow, and unable to guide its direction, 
and unless the file is held very carefully the direction 
varies continually, so that the saw tooth is filed round- 




Fig. 98.— IMPROPER USE OF THE FILE. 

ing instead of flat, or sloping instead of horizontal, or at 
exact right angles with the line of the saw, as it should 
be in a mill-saw or a rip-saw. When the file is held as 
shown in figure 98 (a very common manner of holding- 
it), it is almost impossible to do good work upon a saw. 
When the file is pushed on to the tooth, the weight or 
pressure of the right hand is exerted upon the longer 




Fig. 99.— ANOTHER WRONG WAY OF FILIXG. 

portion of the tool, making it act as if it were the longer 
arm of a lever, and thus depresses that portion below the 
horizontal, as at a. When pushed forward, the pressure 
is then exerted upon the longer portion of the file, which 
is carried from the horizontal in the contrary direction. 
The work is thus made round. Or if the pressure of 
the left hand is guarded against, that of the right hand 



128 



FARM CONVEN"IENCES, 



is seldom ^together controlled, and the work is left 
sloping, as in figure 99 ; the position at the commence- 
ment being shown at a, and that at the finish of the 
stroke at h. This is a very common error with sawyers 
in mills, as well as with many good carpenters in filing 
their rip-saws. 

To avoid either form of this error, the file should not 




PROPER METHOD OF FILING. 



be held with the ball of the thumb pressing upon the 
handle of the file, as in figures 98 and 99 ; but the end 
of the file should be taken lightly between the thumb 
and fore-finger, as in figure 100. There is no uneven 
pressure in this case, and the direction of the file may 
easily be kept perfectly level. In filing the base of the 




Fi^, 101. — FILING UNDERNEATH. 



tooth, or the under portion of any work which cannot 
be turned over, the end of the file should be supported 
upon the ends of the fingers, as in figure 101, or be held 
by the end of the thumb, in an easy gentle manner. If 



FARM COJ^VEXIEJ^CES. 



129 



held lightly, and not grasped too firmly, the arm or 
wrist will not be tired so soon as when it is held rigidly; 
and the motion of the file will be more even and regular. 
When the arm is wearied by working in one direction, 
it may be rested by reversing the position of the file, 
taking the handle in the left hand, grasping the end be- 




F'lg. 102. — TO KEST THE HAND IX FILING. 

tween the fingers and thumb of the right hand, and 
drawing the file towards the body, instead of thrusting 
it away from it. The file is then held as in figure 102. 
This is an excellent position in which to hold the file 
when finishing off a saw tooth, or when touching it up 
at noon. 



A MITRE-BOX. 
A mitre-box of an improved form is shown in figure 




Fig. 103. — MITRE-BOX. 

103. The greatly increased use of moulding in house 
6* 



130 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

building renders a mitre-box very necessary in the work- 
shop. In the one here described, a bevel of any angle 
may be cut. At the rear of the box is a slotted post, 
which works in a socket, so that it will turn readily in 
any direction. From the post, lines are laid out upon 
the bottom at various angles. At the termination of 
each line is a round hole, into which a pin may be 
fitted. The pin is used as a guide for the saw in cut- 
ting a mitre-joint, as shown in the illustration. 



THE MANURE HARVEST. 

In the midst of the harvest of grain, and grass, and 
tubers, we must not forget the compost heap, in which 
we garner and store the unsowed crops of a future season. 
The saying that *^ anything that grows in one summer 
will rot before the next," is a safe guide in collecting 
Yegetable matter for the compost heap. When sods, 
muck, and weeds form a part of the heap, it is not alone 
the material which we are assiduous in collecting, and 
put into the heap, that constitutes its whole value. The 
fermentation induced by the dung and liquid manure, 
and the action of the lime or ashes added, "^t^ork upon the 
earth, adhering to the roots of the weeds, and forming 
a considerable part of both sods and muck, and develop 
an admirable quality of plant food. Hence this element 
of the compost heap, which is generally overlooked as 
possessing any special value, should never be wanting. 
It has, moreover, its own offices to perform, in pro- 
moting decay, in the formation of humus, and in pre- 
serving, locking up, and holding on to valuable ingre- 
dients of plant food. 

The compost heap should always be laid in even 
layers, and each layer should go over the entire heap, 



far:j: cois^VEiNiEXCEs. 131 

for thus only can final uniformity be had. We do not 
mean special-purpose composts, but those made for 
general farm crops. It would be well if every particle 
of dung, liquid manure, straw, litter, leaves, weeds, etc., 
could be worked together into uniform fine compost, 
and there is really no substantial reason why this should 
not be done. The gardener would plead for certain 
special composts. It might, perhaps, be well to make a 
special hen-manure compost for corn in the hill, and 
taking the general compost as a basis, to make one for 
turnips, by the addition of a large percentage of bone- 
dust. All this may be done — establish once the rule to 
compost everything of manurial value, and we have in 
prospect an abundance of farm-made fertilizers at all 
times and for all crops — victory over weeds, a good 
place for decomposable trash of all kinds, a sacred burial 
ground for all minor animals and poultr}^, whose pre- 
cincts need never be invaded. There will besides be no 
stagnating pool in the barn-yard, for all liquids will go 
to the tank, to be pumped over the compost heaps — no 
nasty, slumpy barn-yard, for everything will be daily 
gathered for the growing compost heap, and the harvest- 
ing of the manure crop, and its increase day by day, all 
the year round, will be a source of constant pleasure to 
master and men. 



FASTENING CATTLE WITH BOWS. 

Everything connected with this method of fastening 
cattle in the stable, by means of bows, is so simple in 
construction, that it is within the reach of every farmer. 
It requires no outlay, as each one can make all the parts 
for himself. The bow, figure 104, passes around the 
animal's neck in the same manner as an ox-bow, and 
is made of a good piece of hickory, by bending a strip 



132 



FAKM COI^VEN'IEiq-CES. 



of the right length, and three-quarter inch in diameter, 
into the bow form. After the bow-piece, A, is made of 
the right size and shape, with one end left with a knob, 
to prevent the clasp from slipping off, and the other cut 




AND CLASP 



as shown in front view in figure 104, G, and side view at 
F, to fit into the slot, in the clasp, it is carefully bent 
until its ends are brought together, fastened, and left so 
for a considerable time, wdien it will take its form and 




Fig. LU5. — BOW AND ATTACnilENT. 

be ready for use. The clasp is shown at B, D, and con- 
sists of a piece of hard-wood — hickory is best — three- 
quarters of an inch in thickness, and long enough to 
hold the top of the bow well together. A round hole is 
bored in one end, E, through which the bow passes as 
far as the knob, the other end is cut with a hole for the 



FARM CO>sryEl!riENCES. 



133 



passage of the other end of the how, aucl a slot, C, into 
which its narrow neck springs when the bow is secured 
about the creature's neck. A smooth, stout hickory 
pole, two and a half inches in diameter, reaching from 
the floor to the beam overhead, serves as a stanchion to 
which to attach tlie animal, by means of a small bow, 
and stationary clasp, figure 105, or an iron ring, A. If 
a little more room is desired for young stock, a link or 
two of chain, B, can be inserted between the bow and 




Fi^ 10(5 — ■T^Bii: ->^owI^^r now vm> -ivncuions 

stanchion ring. In fastening the cattle, the bow is 
raised when it passes around the neck, and the clasp is 
brought on, and the end of the bow is sprung in place. 
When the animal is to be let loose, the end of the bow 
is joressed in, the clasp slips off, the bow falls, and the 
work is done in less time than it takes to describe it, and 
everything is out of the way. Figure 106 shows a stable 
arranged for this method of fastening ; aside from the 
manger, there is but the stanchion poles, one for each 
animal. There is sufficient freedom of movement of 



134 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

the head, but not an excess ; the animal can stand or lie 
down with perfect comfort^ as the bow moves with ease 
the whole length of the stanchion. After a week's 
practice, the animals will take their }3lace with their 
heads by the side of the stanchion, with a precision that 
is remarkable. Having used the method, here illus- 
trated, for several years, the writer has found it inexpen- 
sive, easy in application, and safe. 



THE PRESERVATION OF WOOD. 

It is known that the decay of timber first begins 
through the fermentation of sap within the pores, and 
that it is continued after this by the absorption of 
water. The neutralization of the acids in the timber by 
the use of lime, has been made use of to j^reserve it from 
decay with success; but the most effective methods have 
been to saturate the pores with oils or mineral salts. 
Creosote and petroleum have been used successfully, but 
few persons are aware of the enormous absorptive capa- 
city of timber for these liquids. Cypress wood, when 
dry, will absorb thirty-nine pounds, or five gallons of oil 
per cubic foot, and California redwood and pine ab- 
sorb twice their weight when perfectly dry. But it is 
not necessary for perfect preservation that timber should 
be fully saturated. . One gallon per cubic foot, for the 
most porous Avoods, will be fully effective, and a coating 
of one and three-quarters of a pint per square foot for 
weather boards, or half as much for shingles, will render 
them perfectly water-proof. In some careful experi- 
ments recently made, dry spruce absorbed, during two 
days' soaking, nearly two per cent, of its weight of water, 
and but one-tenth as much when treated with oil ; dry 
pine absorbed sixteen per cent, of its weight, and oiled 



FARM COi^VE^'IEKCES. 



135 



pine absorbed none that could be ascertained by careful 
^Yeighing. Pine has j^roved to be the most easily water- 
proofed of any timber. Those who wish to preserve 
shingle roofs, will be able to draw their own inferences 
as to the usefulness of coating them with crude 
petroleum. 



A NEST FOR EGG-EATING HENS. 

In the winter season hens frequently acquire the habit 
of eating eggs. Sometimes this vice becomes so con- 
firmed that several hens may be seen waiting for 
another one to leave her nest, or to even drive her off, 
so that they may pounce upon the egg, the one that 
drops it being among the first to break it. In this state 
of affairs there is no remedy, except to find some method 
of protecting the egg from the depredators. The easiest 
way of doing this is to contrive a nest in which the egg 
will drop out of reach. Such a nest is shown in figure 
107. It consists of a box with two sloping false half- 
floors ; one of these being depressed below the other 
sufficiently to make a space 
through which the egg can roll 
down to the bottom floor. A 
door is seen in the side of the 
nest, through which the eggs 
can be removed. The sloping 
half -floors are shown by dotted 
lines. Upon the back one, close , 
to the back of the nest, a glass 
or other nest-egg is fastened by 
a screw or by cement. The false floors may be covered 
with some coarse carpet or cloth, and the bottom floor 
with some chaff or moss, upon which the eggs may roll 
without danger of breaking. If the eggs do not roll 




Fig 107.— SAFETY-NEST. 



136 FARM CONVENIEKCES. 

down at once, they will be pushed down by the first 
attempt of a hen to attack them. 



PLOWING GEAR FOR A KICKING MULE. 

Below is presented a plan for hitching a mule which 
has a habit of kicking when harnessed to a plow, but 
wliicli goes very well in shafts. Kicking is a vice 
which sometimes belongs to horses as well as mules, and 
the following exqiedient has been found effective in 



Fig. 108.— PLOWING GEAR FOR KICKING ANIMALS. 

curing it. Take a pair of light shafts from a wagon, 
or make a pair, and fit to the end of it a bent strap of 
iron, as shown in figure 108. When the mule or horse 
is hitched into the shafts the end may trail on the 
ground, and tlie beast may be exercised wdth the shafts 
alone. When used to these, the bent bar is fastened to a 
plow by means of a clevis, and any dijBficulty there will 
soon be overcome. This device has been used, not only 
for plowing, but for drawing a stone boat, railroad cars, 
and other similar vehicles. 



A LEAF FORK. 

A useful plan for making a fork to gather leaves is 
shown in figure 109. The fork is made of tough ash, 
with ten teeth, similar to the fingers of a cradle, three 
feet long, and slightly turned up. The head into which 



FARM COXVEXIEKCES. 137 

the butts of the teeth are inserted, is thirty inches long. 
A light cross-bar of tough wood is fasteued to the teeth, 
about eight inches from the head, by means of copper 



Fig. 109.— FORK FOR GATHERING LEAVES. 

wire and a light screw to each finger. A handle is pro- 
vided and fixed in its proper place, being flattened some- 
what to keep it from turning in the hand. The handle 
should be braced by two strong wires. With such a 
fork leaves may be loaded very easily and rapidly. 



PREPARATION OF THE WHEAT GROUND. 

Wheat demands for its perfect development, among 
other favorable conditions, besides showers and sunshine, 
depth and richness of soil, thorough tilth, and freedom 
from excess of moisture. Soil that will yield good clo- 
ver will bear good wheat. Wheat follows corn very well, 
but this involves rather late sowing. Where there is a 
market for new potatoes, which, as they are intended for 
immediate use, may be freely manured, the potato ground 
— well plowed and harrowed with a dressing of bone- 
dust, superjohosphate, or, if there is much organic mat- 
ter in the soil, with a dressing of lime — forms an admi- 
rable seed-bed for wheat. One of the best rotations, 
including winter wheat, is corn on sod,, early potatoes, 
wheat, clover and timothy, the grass to be mowed as 
long as it is profitable — the manure being applied in the 



138 FARM COKVEI^IENCES. 

hill for corn, and put on bi-oadcast very liberally for the 
potatoes. Winter wheat follows none of the usual root 
crops well, for it ought to be sowed and up before the 
middle of September, although it often does well sowed 
nearly a month later. 

When wheat follows clover, a crop of clover-hay is 
often taken off early, and a second crop allowed to grow, 
which is turned under about the first of August for 
wheat. In case we have very dry weather in July, the 
growth of clover will be meagre. If, however, the clover 
stubble be to2>dressed at once, as soon as the early crop 
is cut, with a muck and manure compost, or any fine 
compost, " dragged in " with a smoothing harrow, the 
second crop will be sure to start well, while none of the 
manure will be lost. Lime, or ashes, if they can be ob- 
tained, are to be spread after plowing under the clover 
and manure, and thoroughly harrowed in. Forty bush- 
els of ashes to the acre is about right, and where hearths 
of old charcoal pits are accessible — ashes, charcoal-dust, 
and baked earth, are all excellent — they form a good sub- 
stitute for ashes and for lime. Sixty to one hundred 
bushels of evenly dry-slaked lime is a usual application, 
which, if it could have been mixed with an equal quan- 
tity of soil or sods during the slaking, would be •all the 
better. 

The soil, and particularly wheat ground, is not well 
enough tilled in this country. We j^low fourteen to six- 
teen-inch furrows, and u^erU skim-jDlow ; this leaves the 
surface so mellow, and covers the sod so perfectly, that 
w^e think it hardly needs harrowing at all, and only 
smooth it over with a harrow, and let it go. The skim 
plow is a great advantage, but we should take narrow 
furrows. 

The following practice, on heavy land especially, is 
excellent : Turn under the first crop of clover as deep 



FARM CONVEXIEXCES. 139 

as possible, just before it is in full blossom ; cross-plow 
the first or second week in August ; then put on seyenty- 
five bushels of lime, or more, and harrow it in lightly. 
Sow eai'ly after a soaking rain, and apply at the time of 
sowing two hundred and fifty pounds or more of super- 
phosphate to the acre. 



HOW TO DRIVE A HORSE-SHOE NAIL. 

Most farmers hesitate to attempt to fasten on a loose 
shoe for fear of injuring the foot by driving the nail in 
a wrong direction. It is such a saying of time and 
money to be able to put a shoe upon a horse in a hur- 
ried busy time, that every farmer ought to learn how to 
do it. He may practice upon a piece of soft pine wood 
in a rough w^ay, when he will find how easy it is, by 
properly preparing the nails, to make the point come 
out in exactly the proper place. To prepare the nail it 
should be laid upon the anyil (which every workshop 
should have for such work as this), or a smooth iron 
block, and beaten out straight. The point should 
then be bevelled, slightly upon one of the flat 
sides, and the jDoint also bent a very little from 
the side which is bevelled. It will then be of the 
shape shown in figure 110. In driving such a 
nail into a piece of soft wood, or a horse's hoof 
which is penetrated easily in any direction, if 
the bevelled side is placed towards the centre of 
the hoof and away from the crust, the point will 
be bent outw^ards, and will come out lower or 'j, 
higher on the crust as the bevel and curve is 
much or little. A little practice will enable one Fig. no. 
to cause the point to protrude precisely at the ~~^ 
right place. By turning the bevel outwards, in driving 
the nail, the course will be towards the centre of the 




140 FARM COKVENIEiq"CES. 

foot as shown by the line h, in figure 111. The nail 
is sometimes started in the wrong direction by careless 
blacksmiths, and the horse is lamed in consequence. If 
the mistake is discovered, and an attempt made to draw 
out the nail, a piece of it may be broken off, and at 
every concussion of the foot the fragment will penetrate 
further, until it reaches the sensitive parts, and great 
suffering wall follow. Many a horse 
is supposed to have navicular dis- 
ease (because that happens to be 
one of those obscure affections of 
the foot which has no outward 
sign), when the trouble is a frag- 
ment of nail broken off by a bung- 
ling shoer. We have examined the 
foot of a horse which was killed be- 
cause of an incurable lameness, and 
lound a j^iece oi nail thus bedded in 
the centre of the foot, surrounded with an abscess which 
had eaten into the bone. The torture suffered by this 
horse must have been intense, and it was supposed to be 
a case of navicular disease, while the real cause was un- 
suspected. In driving nails into the hoof, great caution 
should be exercised. The hand, or the thumb, should 
be held over the spot where the point of the nail is ex- 
pected to come out, and if it does not appear when it 
should do so, the nail must be withdrawn. Use no 
split or imperfect nail, and have the jooint very carefully 
prepared. The course taken by a nail properly pointed 
and driven is shown by the lines curved outwards at a, 
a, in figure 111. 

SCREW-DRIVERS. 
To drive a screw with a screw-driver, as it is usually 
pointed and handled, is a disagreeable task. If the 



FARM COXVENIEXCES. 



141 




screw goes in with difficulty, the driyer slips out 
of the groove, or it cuts the edges of 
the groove so that the screw is use- 
less. This is because the point of the 
tool is not ground properly. It should be 
ground with an even and long bevel, at least 
an inch long in small tools, and two inches 
in large ones. The sides of the bit should 
be kept straight, and not tapered off nor the 
corners ground off or rounded. There 
should be no sharp edge ground upon the 
end of the tool, and the grinding should be 
lengthwise, or from handle to point, and not 
crosswise. The edge should be slightly 
rounded. The degree of roundness given 
may be such" as would make it equal to an 
arc of a circle ten to twelve inches in diam- 
eter ; for small tools this may be lessened 
considerably. The shape of a well-pointed 
screw-driver is shown in figure 112. Flat 
handles should be abolished as a nuisance ; 
after an hour's use of a driver with such a 
handle, the hand will be stiff and sore. The 
handle should be round. Screws-drivers are 
used more frequently than necessary. We 
have driven hundreds of screws in all sorts scre\v-driver 
of timber, hard white oak even, with the hammer, just 
as nails are driven, without the use of a screw-driver, 
and found them to hold perfectly well. This, of course, 
can be done only with the sharp taper-pointed screws, 
and if any one uses the old blunt-pointed kind, he is too 
far behind the times to be much of a mechanic or 
farmer either. 



Fig. 112. 



142 



FAEM CONVENIENCES. 



TO PREVENT COWS SUCKING THEMSELVES. 
There are many devices to prevent cows from suck- 
ing themselves. A spiked halter is shown in figure 
113. A buckle at the upper part, behind the ears, 
makes it quite easy to detach it. Figure 114 shows 





Fig. 113. — SPIKED ILALTEK. Fig. 114.— MAKING THE HALTEK. 

how the spikes are secured. The spikes should not be 
over two inches in length. They are best made of 
wrought nails, which are sold at the hardware stores. 
They are placed in an iron vise and the heads flattened 
as much as possible by pounding with a hammer ; they 
are then driven into a piece of thick leather, and secured 
by sewing or riveting it upon another piece of leather, 
as shown at B in figure 114. 



ABUSE OF BARN CELLARS. 
A great change has come over the farm during the last 
thirty years, in all our thrifty farming districts, in the 
general use of barn cellars. Formerly such an arrange- 
ment of the barn Avas a novelty, and farmers have 
slowly learned its great advantages — the greater com- 
fort of cattle, the cheaper cleaning of stables, the more 
convenient watering of stock, the larger use of peat, 
muck, and headlands in the compost heap, and the 
greater value of the manure made under cover. Now 
the cry is raised of damage to fodder and stock from the 
barn cellar. Almost any good thing can be perverted 



FARM COKVEKIEKCES. 143 

and become a nuisance, and it were strange if men who 
do not read much, and think less, could not abuse the 
barn cellar, which is the stomach of the farm. The 
same kind of men not infrequently abuse their own 
stomachs, and suffer grievously in consequence. "If 
you make your barn cellar tight, carbonic acid gas and 
ammonia are thrown off and injure the quality of hay 
stored in the rooms above, and the health of the cattle 
in the stables. If you turn your pigs into the cellar to 
make compost, and keep them from the air and the light, 
they become diseased, and you put bad meat into your 
barrel to breed disease in your family. " These are not 
uncommon complaints, circulating in our agricultural 
journals. Well, suppose we admit these things to be 
true, what of it ? Is there any necessity for having a 
barn cellar without ventilation ? If you leave one end 
open towards the south, you certainly have ventilation 
enough — and the gases that are evolved from fermenting 
manure are not going through two-inch stable plank and 
the tight siding of the barn when they have the wind to 
carry them off. If a barn cellar is properly managed, 
and seasonably furnished with absorbents, the ammonia 
will be absorbed as fast as it is formed. There will be 
no odor of ammonia that the nostrils can detect. If the 
pigs do not do the mixing fast enough, the shovel and 
the fork, the plow and the harrow, can be added. The 
making of compost under the barn is nice work for rainy 
days in winter, and is more likely to pay than any work 
exposed to the storm. The keeping of pigs under the 
barn is a question of two sides, and however we may 
decide it, barn cellars will stand upon their own merits. 
Any farmer who makes a business of raising pork for 
the market will find a well-appointed pig-sty, with con- 
veniences for storing and cooking food, a paying invest- 
ment. If he sees fit to utilize the labor of his pigs by 



144 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



making compost in a well-yentilated barn cellar, their 
health is not likely to suifer from the wholesome exer- 
cise, or that of his family from the nse of the flesh. 
Swine, furnished with a dry sleeping-apartment and 
plenty of litter for a bed, will keep comfortably clean, 
and not suffer from overwork in the compost heap. If 
anything is settled in the experience of the last thirty 
years, it is the economy of the barn cellar. Our most 
intelligent farmers^ who can command the capital, in- 





Fig. 115.— HAY HACK AND MANGER. 

vest in them. A nice appendage to them is a watering 
trough fed by a spring or a large cistern in the em- 
bankment, to catch all the water, and bring it out by a 
faucet upon the stable floor above. This works admir- 
ably. 



FARM COKYEXIEi^CES. 145 

HAY-RACK AND MANGER. 

A cheap and convenient hay-rack and manger is 
shown in figure 115. The front of the manger should 
be of oak or other hard wood phmk, two inches thick, 
and one foot wide, the lower edge of which is placed 
about two and a half feet from the floor ; the bottom 
should be one foot wide. The side of the hay-rack 
is one foot wide, the front is eighteen inches w^ide ; 
the top and bottom being of the same Avidth, so that 
hay will not lodge. The bottom is made from one and 
a half inch hard board, and is placed one foot above the 
tojD of the manger. Two guards, one inch in diameter, 
and one foot in length, are placed in an upright position 
across the opening. At the front of the manger is a 
swinging door, which is shown partly open. This opens 
into the feed-passage. Tlie manger may have one end 
partitioned for feeding grain. All corners should be 
smoothed and rounded off, and to make it durable, 
attach a thin, flat bar of iron to the upper edge of the 
manger by screws or rivets. 



A BARN BASKET. 

Figure 116 shows a home-made basket or box for use 
in the barn or in gathering crops. It is made of two 
pieces of light board, twelve inches square, for the ends, 
fastened together by laths sixteen, eighteen, or twenty 
inches long, for bottom and sides. These are securely 
nailed. The handle consists of a piece nailed to each 
end, and connected by a light bar. This box is quickly 
made, and will be found very handy for gathering many 
crops in the field, as it may be made to hold exactly one 
bushel, half a bushel, or any other definite quantity, by 
changing the size. To hold a bushel, Avhich is two 
thousand, one hundred and fifty cubic inches, the box 
7 



146 



FARM CON^VENIEiq-CES. 



may be scant twenty inches long, twelve inches wide, 
and nine deep, or scant eighteen inches long, twelve 
inches wide, and eleven inches dceix For half a bushel. 




Fio'. 116. — CONVENIENT BARN BASKET 



scant eighteen inclies long, ten inches wide, and six 
deep ; or fifteen inches long, nine inches wide, and eight 
inches deep. For a peck, ten inches long, nine wade, 
and six deep ; or eight inches square, and scant eight 
and a half inches deep. 



THE TREATMENT OF KICKING COWS. 

It is safe to say that a kicking cow is not naturally 
disposed to this vice, but has been made vicious by some 
fault of her owner. There are few men who possess suf- 
ficient patience and kindness to so manage a cow, from 
calfhood until she comes to the pail, that she will be 
kind and gentle under all circumstances. There are 
nervous, irritable cows, that are impatient of restraint, 
which are easily and quickly spoiled Avhen they fall into 
the hands of an owner of a similar disposition. One 
who is kind and patient, and who has an affection for 
his animals, is never troubled with kicking cows, unless 



FARM CONVEXIENCES. 



147 



he has purchased one ah'eady made vicious. Unfortu- 
nately, few persons are gifted with these rare virtues, 
and, therefore, there are always cows that have to be 
watched carefully at milking time. 
Cows sometimes suffer from cracked 
teats, or their udders may be tender 
from some concealed inflammation, 
and they are restless when milked ; 
so that, now and then, in the best 
regulated dairies, there will be cowg 
that will kick. Many devices have 
been recommended to j^revent such 
cows from exercising this disagree- 
able habit. Different methods of 
securing the legs have been tried. 
The best plan that we have heard of, 
or have tried, is shown in figure 117. 
This fetter is fastened to the cow's 
near leg, by means of the strap in the centre, the curved 
portions embracing the front of the leg above and below 
the hock. It will be perceived that, while the cow can 
move her leg to some extent, and is not hobbled, as 
when the legs are tied together, yet she cannot lift it to 
kick, or to put her foot in the pail. We have seen this 
'^fetter" tried upon a cow that had very sore cracked 
teats, and that kicked furiously when milked, but with, 
the fetter she was unable to kick or hinder milking. 




Fiir. 117. — COW-FET- 
TER. 



HOW TO BUILD A BOAT-HOUSE. 



Any kind of a house that is large enough may be used, 
if provided w^itli the needed fittings named below. 
Where the level of the water is liable to little change, 
the house need not be raised much above the surface of 



148 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 




the water, but the floor may be made so low that one can 
easily step out of the boat to the 
floor. Of course there should be a 
channel made in the centre of the 
house, deep enough to float the 
boat when loaded. The plan of 
the floor is shown in figure 118, 
with the boat in the centre. The 
floor should be protected by a 
light railing around it (see figure 
119), to preyent accidents from 
slipping when the floor is wet 
Where the watei level changes, the house should be 
raised on posts, or bents, as may be necessary to keep it 



Fiff. 118.— PLAN OF HOUSE. 




Fig. 119.— SECTION OF r.OAT- HOUSE. 



FARM CONYEXIENCES. 149 

above high water. A hanging ladder, that may be 
drawn up, is provided for use at low water. 



WASTE LANDS— MAKE THEM USEFUL. 

Waste land abounds everywhere. It is fenced, and has 
the appearance of farm-land, but the owner, if a farmer, 
would be better off without it than he is with it. ^o 
one locality seems to be better or w^orse than another in 
this respect, unless it be that the Southern States have 
the most waste land, and the Eastern States come next 
in this respect. There are rocky fields, and fields 
covered with loose stones ; swamps and wet ground, and 
land covered wdth wretched brush and small timber, and 
in the South, especially, barren and gullied hill-sides. 
It is true, that to clear up these lands, and make them 
fruitful, will cost in labor, if the labor is valued at the 
current rates, more than the land would bring if offered 
for sale. But this is not the right way to look at this 
matter. In reality, it will cost nothing to clear these 
lands, because their owners may do it by working when 
they would otherwise be idle. The way to do it is to 
set about it. To clear an acre or two at a time, of those 
fields that can be cleared ; and to plant with timber, of 
some valuable sort, that ground which is too rough for 
the plow, instead of permitting it to gi'ow up with use- 
less brush. In many cases, the worst trouble that 
farmers suffer is, that they have more land tlian they 
can care for, under their present system of management. 
Hundreds of farms are worked as grain farms, that are 
not well suited for any other use than dairy farms, and 
ground is plowed that should be kept in permanent 
grass. In some cases, the owners of land have discovered 
their proper vocation, as in the dairy district of Central 



150 FARM CONVEN^IEN^CES. 

New York, in the fruit and grain farms of the western 
part of that State, in the pasture farms of the blue-grass 
region of Kentucky, and in the corn-growing and pork- 
raising prairies of the West. If the system of culture 
in these places were changed, the farmers would be poor 
instead of being rich, and one sees very little waste land 
in these localities. There are districts where the surface 
is hilly, and not so well suited for arable purposes as for 
pasture, but where, instead of grass and cows, side-hill 
plows and poor corn fields, washed and gullied by rains, 
are to be seen. Here are waste lands in plenty ; and 
their owners show every sign of poverty and want of 
thrift. It is not easy to change these circumstances 
quickly, but it is easy to begin — just as it is easier to 
start a stone rolling down a hill, than to throw it down 
bodily; and when it is once started, it goes slowly at 
first, and may need help, but it can soon take care of 
itself, and speedily reaches the bottom. It is just so 
with such improvements as are here referred to. They 
are necessarily begun slowly, but when one or two acres 
of these waste places are reclaimed, the product of these 
adds to the farmer's resources. He is richer than before 
by the increased value of these acres, and he is better 
able to reclaim more. When these in their turn are 
improved, the means for further improvements are 
greatly enlarged ; the ambition of the man to excel in 
his vocation is excited, and he speedily becomes a 
Heater, better farmer, and necessarily his circumstances 
are improyed. Thus the rough waste lands, which give 
a disagreeable appearance to the landscape, and are a 
stigma upon its character and that of our farmers, in the 
eyes of our ov^^n citizens and of foreigners, might in a 
short time be improved and a source of profit. 



FARM COKVENIE^^CES. 151 

A RAT-GUARD, 

To keep rats away from anything that is hung up, the 
following simple method may be used. Procure the bot- 
toms of some old fruit-cans, by melting the solder which 




Fig. 120.— GUARD AGAINST KATS. 

holds them upon a hot stove. Bore holes in the centre 
of these disks, and string a few of them upon the cord, 
wire, 6r rope upon which the articles are hung. When 
a rat or mouse attempts to pass upon the rope by climb- 
ing over the tin disks, they turn and throw the animal 
upon the floor. This plan, shown in figure 120, will be 
found very effective. 



A CRUPPER-PAD FOR HORSES. 

Many horsemen desire a method by which to prevent 
a horse from carrying its tail upon one side, and from 
clasping the reins beneath the tail. We cannot advise 
the operation of ^^ nicking," which consists in cutting the 
skin and muscles upon one side of the tail, and tying 
it over to the cut side, until the cuts heal, when the 
skin, being drawn together, pulls the tail permanently 
over to that side. A different form of the operation 
causes the tail to be carried up in a style that is sup- 
posed to be more graceful, and prevents the horse from 



152 



FARM CONVENIEKCES. 



clasping the reins when driven. As a preventive of both 
of these habits, the pad shown in 
figure 121 is often used by horse- 
men, instead of the cruel and un- 
necessary operation of *' nicking." 
This appliance is made of leather, 
is stuffed with hair or wool, and is 
about three inches in diameter at 
the thickest part, gradually taper- 
ing toward each end, where it is 
fastened to the crupper straps. It 
should be drawn up close to the 
roots of the tail, and by exerting 
a i^ressure beneath it, the tail is 

Fif?. 121.— ciiuppER-PAD. carried in a raised position, and is 

not thrown over to one side. If it is, a few sharp tacks 

may be driven into the inside of the pad. 




A DAM FOR A FISH POND. 

In making a fish pond, by placing a dam across a 
stream, it should be borne in mind that success depends 
upon the proper construction of the dam, whether it be 




12:3. — STAKES AM) mtusii. 



large or small. Any defect here will make the whole 
useless. The main point in the construction of a dam 
is, to have a complete union between the earth of the 
bed and that of the dam. This cannot be done by 



FARM COXVEKIEi^CES. 153 

throwing the earth upon an old surface. A new surface 
must be made, solid and firai, to receive the new earth. 
In addition, there should be a central core of some strong 
material, that will serve to strengthen and bind the new 
construction. In making a dam or embankment to re- 
tain or exclude water, the beginning should be to dig a 
shallow ditch, removing sod or lyieven ground, or if the 
earth is bare, to disturb it thoroughly with the pick, so 
as to provide binding material to unite with the bottom 
of the dam. A line of stakes is driven into the ground, 
and filled with brush woven in, or wattled, as in figure 
122. In building the dam, all the sods and vegetable 
matter should be placed on the outside, where these will 
root, and bind the surface together ; the rest of the earth 
should be well trodden, or rammed down firmly, and if 
the soil is puddled by admixture of water in the process 
of ramming, the work will be better for it. The water- 
way in the stream should be tightly boarded or planked. 
Three posts may be driven or set on each bank of the 
stream, and boards nailed, or planks spiked for a larger 
structure, so as to retain the earth of the embankments 
on each side, figure 123. A timber is fitted as a mud- 
sill, to the front and rear posts, and one to the central 
posts ; the latter at such a height as will raise the water 
to the desired depth. The spaces between these timbers 
are boarded and planked, and may be filled in with earth, 
well rammed, and mixed with straw and fine cedar brush, 
under the covering. If it is desired to raise the water 
to a greater depth, loose flash-boards may be fitted with 
cleats, on the centre of the waste-way, or a wire-gauze 
fence may be placed there, to prevent the escape of the 
fish. If freshets are apt to occur, a sufficient number of 
these waste-ways should be provided to carry off the 
surplus w^ater, and prevent overflowing and wasting of 
the dam. The dam of a fish pond should always be 
7* 



154 



FARM COKVENIEKCES. 



made high enough for safety against overflow, and to 
guard against percolation, and washing away by under- 
mining, it should be made three times as wide as it is 
high, with slopes of one and a half foot horizontal on 




Fig. r2o.— WASTE-GATE FOli POND, 



each side, to one foot in perpendicular height. If any 
plants are set upon a dam or embankment, they should 
be of a small, bushy growth, such as osier willow, elders, 
etc., but nothing larger, lest the swaying caused by high 
winds should loosen and destroy the bank. 



A WAGON JACK. 

In figures 124 and 125 is shown a most convenient 
home-made wagon jack, in constant use for ten years, 
and has proved most satisfactory. The drawings were 
made with such care, the measurement being placed 
upon them, that the engravings tell nearly the whole 
story. Figure 124 shows the jack when in position to 
hold the axle, at a. When not in use, the lever falls 
down out of the way, and the affair can be hung up in a 
handy place. Figure 125 shows the "catch -board, "and 
the dimensions proper for a jack, for an ordinary wr.gon, 
buggy, etc. It is so shaped and fastened by a din be- 



FARM COJSTYEinEl^CES. 



155 



tween the upright parts of the jack, that it is pushed in 
position, cl, by the foot at c, when the axle is raised ; 
and falls back of its own accord when the lever is raised 
a trifle to let the wheel down. All the parts are made 




CATCH-BOARD. 



of inch stuff, the foot board, catch, and lever should be 
of hard wood ; the upright boards between which they 
are placed can be of pine or other soft wood. Persons 
who see this simple and convenient wagon jack fre- 
quently say, ^^ Why don't you get it patented ?" but the 
inventor thinks that such simple things, which any one 
can make, ought to be contributed for the common good, 
and in the same spirit we commend it to any who may 
be in need of a good wagon jack. 



WILL YOU FEED HAY OR WOOD? 

A great deal has been said and Avritten about the 
proper time of cutting hay. The best time, all things 
considered, is to cut the grass just after it has come into 



156 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

full bloom, though many think the preferable time is 
just when it is coming into full blossom. As it is im- 
possible to always mow every field just at the right mo- 
ment, the general safe rule is, we think, to be all ready 
to begin at full bloom, and finish before it is entirely 
past. 

There is this important fact to be kept in mind, viz., 
that as soon as grass of any kind has attained its growth, 
and is full of juices, it begins to change more and more 
into woody fibre, and that when fully ripe a large part 
of the stems or stalks differ very little in composition 
from dry wood. And every one knows that dry wood 
is neither easily digested nor nutritious. It stands to 
reason that a stalk of grass cut when it is full of juice 
containing sugar, gum, and protein compounds, and 
cured thus, must be m.ore nutritious than if left standing 
until a part of these constituents have changed into 
woody fibre. Feeding hay not cut until it is thoroughly 
ripe, is giving the animals that which is in part only so 
much wood. The practical lesson is, make a good ready 
well in advance, now, and have the barns, mows, stack- 
ing arrangements, mowers, scythes, horse and other 
rakes, forks, wagon racks, in short, all things, in perfect 
order — and the work planned, so as not to let any hay- 
field get into the fully ri|)e condition. Head work be- 
forehand will save hard work and worry, and secure 
better hay. 



A BRACE FOR A KICKING HORSE. 

Those so unfortunate as to own a kicking horse know 
something of the patience that it requires to get along 
Avitli it — and will welcome anything which will prevent 
the kicking and finally effect a cure. The writer knew 
a horse, which was so bad a kicker that after various 



FARM CONYENIENCES. 157 

trials, and after passing through many hands, and get- 
ting worse all the time, to be perfectly cured in the 
course of three months by the use of the device here 
given. This is a simple brace, which acts upon the fact 
that if the head be kept up, the horse cannot kick. A 
kicking horse is like a balance, when one end goes up, the 
other must go down. The brace is shown in figure 126, 
and consists of a one-half inch iron rod, which may be 
straight, or, for the looks, bent into 
a graceful curve. It is forked at 
both ends ; the two divisions of the 
upper end are fastened to the two 
rings of the bit, wliile the lower ends 
fit upon the lower portion of the 
collar and hames. The upper ends 
can best be fastened to tlie bit by 
winding with wire, which should be 
done smoothly, so as not to wear 
upon the mouth. The lower end is 
secured by means of a strap fastened 
to the upper loop, and passing 
around the collar is buckled through 
the hole in the lower part of the 
end of the brace. The brace need 
not be taken from the bit in unhar- ^'^' 126.-the brace. 
nessing. Any blacksmith can make sucli a brace, taking 
care to have it of the proper length to fit the particular 
horse. Keep its head at about the height as when 
*^ checked up," and the horse will soon be cured. 




HOW TO SAVE LIQUID MANURE. 

In ordinary farm practice, by far the larger part of the 
liquid manure of the stock kept is lost. No effort is 
made to save it. There is no barn cellar, no gutter be- 



158 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

hind the stabled animals, no absorbents. Analysis shows 
that the liquid manure is quite as yaluable as tlie solid, 
or even more so. In 1,000 itounds of fresh horse dung 
there are 4.4 pounds of nitrogen, 3.5 of potash, and 3.5 
of 2:)hosphoric acid. In horse urine there are 15.5 pounds 
of nitrogen, and 15.0 of potash. In 1,000 pounds of fresh 
cattle dung there are 2.9 pounds of nitrogen, 1.0 of pot- 
ash, 1.7 of phosphoric acid. In the urine, 5.8 pounds 
of nitrogen, 4.9 of potash. These are the most valuable 
constituents of manure, and no farmer can afford to 
have them so generally run to waste. There is very lit- 
tle loss where there is a gutter well supplied with absorb- 
ents, and a barn cellar well coated with dried peat, muck, 
or headlands, to absorb the liquids as fast as they fall. 
But barn cellars are still in the minority. Mr. Mechi 
had a very expensive apparatus for distributing the liquid 
manure over his farm, by means of tanks and pipes, and 
thought it paid, but failed to convince his contemporaries 
of the fact. However that may be, it is out of the ques- 
tion to apply liquid manure in this manner, economic- 
ally, upon the average farm. It takes too much capital, 
and requires too much labor. By the use of absorbents, 
it can be done economically on a small or large scale, 
with very little waste. Some use a water-tight box, 
made of thick plank, covering the floor of the stall. 
This is a very sure way to save everything, and the only 
objection to it is the expense of the box, and the in- 
creased labor of keeping the stalls clean. We used for 
several years dried salt-marsh sod, cut in blocks eight or 
ten inches square, taken from the surface of the marsh 
in ditching. This had an enormous capacity for absorb- 
ing liquids, and a layer of these sods would keep a horse 
or cow comfortably dry for a fortnight. Eefuse hay or 
straw was used on top for purposes of cleanliness. The 
saturated sod was thrown into the compost heap with 



FARM COKTEKIEKCES. 159 

other manure, where it made an excellent fertilizer. 
Later we used sawdust, iourchased for the purpose at 
two cents a bushel, as bedding for a cow^ kept upon a 
cemented floor. A bed a foot thick would last nearly a 
month, when it was thrown out into the compost heap. 
The sawdust requires a longer time for decomposition, 
but saves the liquid manure. Our present experiment, 
coYering several months, is witli forest leaves, principally 
hickory, maple, white ash, and elm. A bushel of dried 
leaves, kept under a shed for the purpose, is added to 
the bedding of each animal, and the saturated leaves 
are removed with the solid manure as fast as they accu- 
mulate. The leaves become very fine by the constant 
treading of the animals, and by the heat of their bodies, 
and the manure j)ile grows rapidly. It is but a little 
additional labor to the ordinary task of keeping animals 
clean in their stalls, to use some good absorbent, and 
enough of it, to save all the liquid manure. What the 
absorbent shall be is a question of minor importance. 
Convenience will generally determine this matter. No 
labor upon the farm pays better than to save the urine 
of all farm stock by means of absorbents. These are in 
great variety, and, in some form, are within the reach 
of every man that keeps cattle or runs a farm. Stop this 
leak, and lift your mortgage. 



AN OPEN SHED FOR FEEDING. 

A feeding-trough in a yard, which can be covered to 
keep out snow or rain, is a desirable thing, and many 
devices have been contrived for the purpose, most of 
which are too costly. We give herewith a method of 
constructing a covered feeding-trough, which may be 
made very cheaply of the rough materials to be had on 
every farm. A sufficient number of stout posts are set 



160 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

firmly in the ground, extending about ten feet above the 
surface. They sliould be about six feet apart and in a 
straight line, and a plate fastened to their tops. A pair 




127. — A.N OPEN FEEDING-SHED. 



of rafters supported by braces, as shown in figure 127, 
is fitted to each post. A light roof of laths is laid, and 
covered with bark, straw, corn-stalks, or coarse hay. 
Strips are fastened from one brace to another, and laths 
or split poles nailed to them, about six inches apart, to 
make a feed-rack. A feed-trough for grain or roots is 
built upon each side. For sheep, the shed and rack may 
be made only eight feet high at the peak, and the eaves 
four feet from the ground ; giving better shelter. 



A SHADE FOR HORSES' EYES. 

The most frequent cause of weak eyes in horses is a 
badly-arranged stable. Foul gases irritate and inflame 
the tender membranes of the eye and head, and liorses 
brought from dark stables into bright sunlight, or onto 
glittering snow, are dazzled and blinded. The existing 
weakness or irritation is intensified, and the poor animal 
suffers unsuspected torments. The remedy is to purify 
the stable and give it sufficient light, shaded by blinds. 



FARM C0XVE5q'IE:N-CES. 161 

from before and behind the horse, or from both sides, 
avoiding a light from only the 
front, rear, or one side light. 
A shade for weak or inflamed 
eyes may be constructed by 
fastening wires to the bridle 
and covering it with oiled 
cloth in the manner repre- 
sented in figure 128. Thus 
a soft, subdued light reaches 
the eyes, while the horse can 
still see the ground immedi- 
ately before him. It will be 
a timely job to jorepare such Fig. 128.— to pkotect the eyes. 
a shade for use before the snow of winter comes. 




TEST ALL SEEDS-IMPORTANT. 

No one can, by merely looking at them, positively tell 
whether any p)articular lots of field, garden, or flower 
seeds have or have not sufficient vitality of germ to start 
into vigorous growth. Yet it is a severe loss, often a 
disastrous one, to go through with all the labor and ex- 
pense of preparation and planting or sowing, and find 
too late that the crop is lost because the seeds are de- 
fective. All this risk can be saved by a few minutes' 
time all told, in making a preliminary test, and it 
should be done before the seed is wanted, and in time to 
get other seed if necessary. Seeds may not have ma- 
tured the germ ; it may have been destroyed by heat or 
moisture ; minute insects may have, unobserved, punc- 
tured or eaten out the vital part of a considerable per- 
centage. 

Select from the whole mass of the seed, one hundred, 
or fifty, or even ten seeds, that will be a fair sample of 



1G2 



PARM CONVENIENCES. 



all. For larger seeds, as wheat, corn, oats, peas, etc., 
take a thin, tough sod, and scatter the counted seeds 
upon the earth side. Put upon the seeds another simi- 
lar sod, earth side down. Set this double sod by the 
warm side of the house or other building, or of a tight 
fence, moistening it occasionally as needed. If very cold, 
cover, or remove to the kitchen or cellar at night. The 
upper sod can be lifted for ol;)servation when desirable. 
The swelling and starting of the seeds will in a few days, 
according to the kind, tell what percentage of them will 
grow — a box of earth will answer instead of sods, both 
for large and small seeds. Small seeds of vegetables or 




Fi<^. 129. — HOME-.MAUE KOI.LER. 

flowers, and even larger ones, may be put into moist cot- 
ton, to be kept slightly moist and placed in the sun or 
in a light warm room. For small quantities of valuable 
flower seeds and the like, half a dozen will suffice for a 
trial test. "With any seed, for field or garden, however 
good, it is always very desirable and useful to know ex- 
actly how many or few are defective, and thus be able to 
decide how much seed to use on an acre, or other plot. 



FARM COXVEXIEKCES. 



1G3 



A FIELD ROLLER. 

A very good field roller may be easily made in 
winter, when timber is being cut. Use a butt-log of an 
oak tree, in the form shown in figure 129. The log 
need not be a very large one, because the frame, in which 
it is mounted, enables it to be loaded to any reasonable 
extent, and the driver may ride upon it, and thus add 
to the w^eight. A roller will be found very valuable 
in the spring when repeated frosts have raised the ground 
and thrown out the stones. 



A PORTABLE SLOP BARREL. 

A barrel mounted upon wheels, as shown in figure 
130, will be found useful for many purposes about the 
farm, garden, or household. The barrel is supported 
upon a pair of wheels, the axles of which are fastened to 




Fig. 130. —PORTABLE BARREL FOR SLOPS. 

a frame connected witli the barrel by means of straps 
bolted to the sides. The frame may be made of iron 
bent in the form shown in figure 131, or of crooked tim- 
ber having a sufficient bend to j^ermit the barrel to be 
tipped for emptying. A pair of handles are provided, as 
shown in the engraving. When not in use, the barrel 
rests upon the ground, and may be raised by bearing down 
upon the handles. The barrel may be made to rest in 
notched bearings upon the frame, so that by raising the 



104 FARM CONVENIEKCES. 

lianclles, the wheels may be drawn away from the 
barrel, and the latter left in a convenient place until it 
needs removal. This contrivance will be useful for feed- 




131.— PLAN OF FKAME OF BARREL. 



ing slops to pigs, or for removing the waste of the house 
to the barn-yard. 

WHERE AND HOW TO APPLY FERTILIZERS. 

It is often difficult to decide — for barn-yard or stable 
manures, or for any artificial fertilizer — whether to use 
it in the hill or broadcast it ; and whether to apply it on 
the surface, or bury it deeply. Here is a hint or two. 
If not strong enough to injure the first tender roots, a 
little manure near at hand gives the plant a good send- 
off, like nourishing food to the young calf or other ani- 
mal ; the after-growth is much better if the young ani- 
mal or plant is not dwarfed by imperfect and insufficient 
diet. Therefore, drilling innocuous hand fertilizers in 
with the seed is useful, as is putting some well-rotted 
manure or leached ashes into hills of corn, potatoes, in- 
deed with all planted seeds. But there are good reasons 
for distributing most of the manures or fertilizers all 
through tlic soil, and as deeply as the plant roots can 
possibly penetrate. The growth and vigor of all plants 
or crops depend chiefly upon a good supply of strong 
roots that stretch out far, and thus gather food over the 
widest extent of soil. If a flourishing stalk of corn, 



FAKM COXVEXIENCES. 165 

grain or grass, be carefully washed, so as to leave all its 
roots or rootlets attached, there will be found a wonder- 
ful mass of hundreds and even thousands of roots to any 
plant, and they extend off a long distance, frequently 
several feet — the farther the better, to collect more food 
and moisture. Put some manure or fertilizer in place 
two feet away from a corn or potato hill, or from almost 
any plant, and a large mass of roots will go out in that 
direction. So, if we mix manures or fertilizers well 
through the whole soil, they attract these food-seeking 
roots to a greater distance ; and they thus come in con- 
tact wdtli more of the food already in the soil, and find 
more moisture in dry weather. A deeply-stirred soil, 
with manure at the bottom, develops water-pumping 
roots below the reach of any ordinary drouth, and the 
crops keep right on growing — all the more rapidly on 
account of the helpful sun's rays that would scorch a 
plant not reaching a deep reservoir of moisture. 



A MILL FOR CRUSHING BOXES. 

To save the expense of a purchased bone-mill, one may 
be made as described below, which will crush them into 
a condition much more valuable for manure than the 
whole bones, if not quite as good as if finely ground. 
Make a circular mould of boards, six feet wide and tw^o 
feet deep. Hoops of broad band-iron are fitted to the 
inside of the mould, and secured to it about one inch 
apart. The mould is then filled with a concrete of Port- 
land cement, sand, and broken stone. Place in the con- 
crete when filling binding pieces of flat bar-iron, to pre- 
vent the mass from cracking when in use. In the cen- 
tre place squares of band-iron, as a lining for a shaft by 
which the crusher is turned. When the concrete is set 
and hardened, the frame may be taken apart ; and, as in 



166 



FARM COKVEmEKCES. 



setting the concrete will expand somewhat, the iron 
bands aronnd tlie mass will be found to haye become a 
tight solid facing to the wheel. The wheel is then set 
up on edge, and a square shaft of yellow pine, six inches 
thick, is wedged into the central space. This shaft is 
fitted to an upright post by a loose band of iron and a 
swivel joint, so that tlie wheel may be made to revolve 
around it. Any other suitable connection may be used 
for this purpose. A hollow trough of broken stone and 
well rammed concrete is then laid in the track of the 




UOML-.MADE BONE-MILL. 



wheel as it revolves, and the crusher is complete and 
ready for a pair of horses to be attached to it, figure 132. 
A crusher of this kind may be put up at a country mill, 
or as a joint affair by a few farmers uniting their efforts, 
and thus utilizing a valuable fertilizing material, which 
is now wasted for want of means to render it available. 



LIME AND LIMESTONE. 



In the first place, limestone, marble, calc-spar, chalk 
(of rare occurrence in this country), marl, and oyster, and 



FARM COKVENIENCES. 167 

other sliells, are all essentially the same in composition, 
however they may diller in texture, form, and other par- 
ticulars. They are all different forms of the carbonate 
of lime ; that is, they consist of the alkaline earth, lime, 
in combination with carbonic acid, and in the case of 
shells, with animal matter. As a general thing, we only 
know carbonic acid as a gas. It has a very weak hold 
of the lime, for if we drop a fragment of limestone into 
strong vinegar, the acetic acid of the vinegar will unite 
with the lime (forming acetate of lime), while the car- 
bonic acid, being set free, will be seen to pass off in small 
bubbles. In this case we free the lime from its carbonic 
acid, by presenting to it a stronger acid, that of vinegai'. 
But if instead of using another acid to displace the car- 
bonic acid, we place limestone in any of its forms, in a 
strong fire, the carbonic acid will be driven off by the 
heat, and there will be left, simply lime. This is called 
quick lime, or caustic lime, and by chemists oxide of 
the metal calcium, or calcium oxide. Lim.e, then, is 
limestone without its carbonic acid. All the forms of 
limestone are very little soluble in water; lime itself is 
more soluble, though but slightly so, requiring at ordi- 
nary temperatures about seven hundred times its own 
weight of w^ater, yet it gives a marked alkaline taste to 
water in which it is dissolved. Lime in this condition, 
as quick lime, or when combined with water, *^^ slaked" 
as it is called, is much employed in agriculture. A 
small portion of lime is required by plants, but the 
chief use of lime, when applied to the soil, is to bring 
the vegetable matters contained in the soil into a condi- 
tion in which they can be used as plant food. This ap- 
plication of lime as a fertilizer has long been followed by 
farmers, and in many cases with the most beneficial re- 
sults. Within a year or so great claims have been made 
for ground limestone, especially by the makers of mills 



168 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

for grinding it ; some of these have asserted that it was 
superior to burned lime, and superior to nearly all other 
fertilizers. The question which most interests farmers 
is, has limestone, however fine it may be, any value as a 
fertilizer ? To this the answer would be both ''yes " and 
''no." Upon a heavy clay soil the carbonate of lime, or 
limestone in any form, aj^pears to have a beneficial ef- 
fect ; it makes such soils friable and open, so that water 
aud air may penetrate them. While its action upon the 
vegetable matter in the soil is far less prompt and ener- 
getic than that of quick-lime, yet its presence, affording 
a base with which any acid that may be present in the 
soil may unite, is often beneficial. To extol ground 
limestone as "the great fertilizer of the age," to even 
claim that it is equal to lime itself, is a mistake. Both 
have their uses. It should be borne in mind by inquir- 
ers about the value of ground limestone, that many soils 
already contain more lime in this form than can ever be 
utilized, and need no addition. 



A FARM WHEELBARROW. 

The wheelbarrow is an indispensable vehicle on the 
farm and in the garden. Applied to hard uses it needs 




Fio-. 133.— FAHM -VVHEELBAKKOW, 



to be strong and durable. A barrow of the ordinary kind, 
used on farms, soon becomes weak in the joints and falls 



FARM CONYENIEXCES. 169 

to pieces. The movable sides are inconYenient, and the 
shape necessarily adopted when movable sides are used 
greatly weakens the structure. It will be noticed at first 
sight that the wheelbarrow, shown in figure 133, is most 
strongly supported and braced, that the box, instead of 
weakening it, greatly strengthens it, and that it is stout 
and substantial. It is i)ut together at every part by 
strong bolts, and can be taken apart to pack for transpor- 
tation, if desired, and a broken part readily replaced. 



TO PREVENT THE BALLING OF HORSES. 

When the snow upon the roads is cohesive and packs 
firmly, it collects upon the feet of horses, forming a hard, 
projecting mass, in a manner known as ^^ balling." This 
often occurs to such an extent as to impede the motion 
of the horse, while it causes the animal great discomfort, 
and is sometimes dangerous to the rider or driver. The 
trouble may be prevented very easily by the use of gutta- 
percha. For this purpose the gutta-percha should be 
crude, i.e., not mixed with anything or manufactured 
in any manner, but just as imported. Its application 
depends upon the property which the gum has of soften- 
ing and becoming j)lastic by heat, and hardening again 
when cold. To apply it, place the gutta-percha in hot 
water until it becomes soft, and having well cleansed the 
foot, removing whatever has accumulated between the 
shoe and hoof, take a piece of the softened gum and press 
it against the shoe and foot in such a manner as to fill 
the angle between the shoe and the hoof, taking care to 
force it into the crack between the two. Thus filling 
the crevices, and the space next the shoe, where the snow 
most firmly adheres, the ball of snow has nothing to hold 
it, and it either does not form, or drops out as soon as it 
8 



170 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



is gathered. When the gutta-percha is applied, and well 
smoothed off with the wet fingers, it may be hardened 
at once, to prevent the horse from getting it out of place 
by stamping, by the application of snow or ice, or more 
slowly by a wet sponge or cloth. When it is desired to 
remove the gum, the application of hot water by means 
of a sponge or cloth will so soften it that it may be taken 
off. As the softening and hardening may be repeated 
indefinitely, the same material will last for years. For 
a horse of medium size, a quarter of a pound is sufficient 
for all the feet. 



TO PREVENT CATTLE THROWING FENCES. 

To prevent a cow from throwing fences or hooking 
other cows, make a wooden strip two and a half inches 
wide and three-quarters of an inch thick, and attach it 

,^j to the horns by screws ; to this is 

"i 1^^^^ fastened, by a small bolt, a strip of 

hardwood, three inches wide, half 
an inch thick, and of a length suf- 
ficient to reach downward within 
an inch of the face, and within two 
or three inches of the nostrils. In 
the lower end of this strip are pre- 
viously driven several sharp nails, 
which project about one-quarter 
of an inch. The arrangement is 
the strip, when properly attached, 
allows the animal to eat and drink with all ease, but 
when an attempt is made to hook or to throw a fence, 
the sharpened nails soon cause an abrupt cessation of 
that kind of mischief. 




Fig. 134.— CATTLE CHECK. 

shown in figure 134; 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



171 



FEED BOXES. 
In figure 135 a box is sliown firmly attached to two 
posts. It has a hinged cover, p, that folds oyer, and 
may be fastened down by inserting a wooden pin in the 




top of the post near n. The one given in figure 136 
maybe placed under shelter, along the side of a building 
or fence. One side of the top is hinged to the fence 




Fig. 136. — HINGED FEED BOX. 

or building, the bottom resting upon a stake, e. When 
not in use, the box may be folded up, the end of the 
strap, b, hooking over the pin, «, at the side of the box. 



172 



FARM co:n'vekiekces. 



A good portable box, to be placed ui^on the ground, is 
shown in figure 137. It is simply a common box, with a 
strip of board, 7i, nailed on one side and projecting about 




Fig. 137. — PORTABLE FEED BOX. 

eight inches. When not in use, it is turned bottom up, 
as shown in figure 138. The projecting strip prevents 
three sides of the box from settling into the mud or snow. 
The strip is also a very good handle by which to carry it. 




Fiff. 138, — FEED BOX INVERTED. 



Those who now use portable boxes will find the attach- 
ing of this strip a decided advantage. A very serviceable 
portable feed box is made from a section of half a hollow 




Fi,^. 139.— BOX FROM HOLLOW LOG. 

log, with ends nailed on, as shown in figure 139. By let- 
ting the ends project above the sides four or five inches, 
it maybe turned over when not in use, and easily turned 



FARM COXVEKIEKCES. 



173 



back by grasping the sides without the hand coming in 
contact with earth or snow. All feed boxes and racks 
should be placed under shelter during summer, or when 
not in use. 



A CATTLE TIE. 

Judging from the numerous stanchions and arrange- 
ments for fastening cattle in stalls, illustrated from time 
to time in the public prints, the perfect cattle-fastening 
has not yet been invented. We do not claim perfection 
for the arrangement given in figure 140, but it Avill be 
difficult to devise a cheaper one, and we doubt if any 
better or more satisfactory one is in use. The fastening 
consists of a three-fourth inch rope, which is run 
through the partitions of the stalls, one long rope being 
used for the tier of stalls, although short pieces may be 
employed if desired. This rope is knotted on either side 




Fig. 140.— CATTLE TIE. 

of each partition, and a good swivel snap for use with a 
rope, is tied in the rope in front of the centre of each 
stall. The rope should pass over, very nearly, the front 



174 FARM CONVEKIENCES. 

of the manger — from the side of the cattle — and for 
cattle of ordinary higlit, it ought to be about two feet 
from the floor. When put in, the rope should be drawn 
up tightly, as it will soon acquire considerable and 
sufiQcient slack from the constant strain from the ani- 
mals. With this arrangement each cow must be pro- 
vided with a strap or rope about the neck, the rope or 
strap being supplied with a free-moving iron ring. 
When the animal is jDut in the stalls the snap is fastened 
in the ring, and if the snap is a good one — none -but the 
best swivel snaps should be used — an animal will rarely 
get free from it. This fastening, it will be noticed, 
admits of considerable fore and aft motion, and but 
slight lateral movement. The cost of this arrangement 
it is difficult to state accurately, it is so small. The 
rope for each stall will cost less than five cents ; the 
snaps will cost ten cents when bought by the dozen, 
and the time of putting these fittings in each stall is 
less than fifteen minutes. The rope will wear two years 
at least. 



A BEEF RAISER. 

Two posts are set about fifteen feet high. A deep 
mortise is cut in the top of each to receive the roller, 
which is grooved at the points of turning. One end of 
the roller extends beyond the post, and through this 
end three two-inch holes are bored. Three light 23oles 
are put througli these holes, and their ends connected 
by a light rope. In raising the beef the middle of a 
stout rope is thrown over the roller ; the ends are drawn 
through the loop, and after the beef is fastened to the 
loose ends the roller is turned against the loop by means 
of the ''sweep," or lever arms, figure 14]. A heavy 



FAKM CONVEXIEXCES. 175 

beef can be easily raised, and may be fastened at any 




Fiff. 141. — A BEEF RAISER. 



hight desired, by tying the end of one of the levers to 
the post with a short rope. 



A CEDAR STEM SOIL-STIRRER. 

A conyenient and quickly-made implement for stirring 
and mixing manure and fertilizers with the soil, may be 




Fi^. 142.— A STIRRER MADE OF A CEDAR STEM. 

made as follows : A cedar stem is cut about eight feet 
long, and the branches cut off several inches from the 
stem, leaving long spurs on all sides for its whole length, 
as shown in figure 142. A horse is hitched bv a chain 



176 FARM COKVENIEKCES. 

to the bntt end, and the driver guides the implement by 
a rope fastened to the rear end of the stem. By means 
of the guide-rope the implement may be lifted over or 
around obstacles, and turned at the end of the field. 
Such an implement is specially useful in mixing fertil- 
izers with the soil, when applied in drills for hoed crops. 



A HINT FOR PIG KILLING. 



Lay a log chain across the scalding trough, and put 
the pig upon it. Cross the chain over the animal, as 




CALDING A I'lC. 



shown in figure 143. A man at each end of the chain 
can easily turn the pig in the scald, or work it to and 
fro as desired. 



MENDING BROKEN TOOLS. 

Farming tools, such as shovels, rakes, forks, etc., that 
are much used, will often, through carelessness or acci- 
dent, become broken, and, with most men, that means to 
be thrown one side, as utterly useless. By exercising a 
little ingenuity, they could in a short time be fitted up 
to do service for several years. The head of hand-rakes 
often becomes broken at the point where the handle en- 
ters, and not unfrequently the handle itself is broken off 



FARM co:n"vexiexces. 



177 



where it enters the head. In either case the break is 
easily made good by attaching a small piece of wood to 




Fig. 144.— A MENDED RAKE. 

the head, by small nails or screws, as shown in figure 
144. Should the head be broken where one of the bows 




Fig. 145.— MENDING A SnOTEL. 

passes through, it may be mended in a like manner, h. 
Shovels and spades, owing to the great strain to which 



178 



FARM CONVENIEN"CES. 



they are often subjected, especially by carelessly prying 
with them, crow-bar fashion, are frequently broken, and 
usually at the point where the wood enters the blade. 
This break, bad as it is, should not consign the broken 
parts to the rubbish pile, especially if the blade and the 
handle be otherwise in fair condition. Remove the iron 
straps or ferule from the handle ; firmly rivet a strip of 
iron, a, figure 145, on top of the handle, and a similar 
one underneath, to the blade and handle, as shown in 
the engraving. Other broken tools may be made to do 
good service by proper mending. 



A LARGE FEED-RACK. 

The width of the rack is seven feet, but it can be any 
length desired ; hight, ten feet ; bight of manger, two 
and a half feet ; width, one and one- half foot. Cattle 
can eat from both sides. The advantage of such a rack. 




Fig. 146.— A L.VRGE YARD FODDEK-KACK. 

shown in figure 146, is that it will hold a large quantity 
of feed, and so securely that very little can be wasted by 
the feeding animals. 



FARM CONVEXIEIsrCES. 
BARN DOOR FASTENING. 



179 



One of the best barns in the country has its large 
double doors fastened by a bar of iron, about six feet 
long, which is bolted to one of the doors at its middle 
point. The ends of the bar are notched, one upon the 
upper and the other on the under side, to fit oyer sock- 
ets or ^' hooks " that are bolted to the doors. One hook 




Fig. 14< 



-UiOX BAR DOOK FASTENIXG. 



bends upward, and the other downward, and the bar 
moves in the arc of a circle when the door is being un- 
fastened or bolted. The construction of this door fast- 
ening is shown in figure 147. A wooden bar may replace 
the iron one, and may be of a size and length sufiicient 




Fig. 148.— WOODKN BAR DOOR FASTENING. » 

to make the fastening secure. A wooden bar is shown 
in figure 148. Such a method of fastening could be 
used for a single door, provided it needs to be opened 
and closed only from the inside. By putting a pin in 



180 



FARM C0N^VE2^^IEI^^CES. 



the bar near the end that passes by the door-post, so that 
it will reach through a slot in the door, such a '-latch" 
might be used for any door. 



A "FORK" STABLE SCRxiPER. 

A very handy stable scraper is made of an inch board, 
five inches wide, and about eight inches longer than the 
width of a four-tined fork. Bore a hole for each tine 
a quarter inch in diameter from the edge of the board 
to about two inches from the opposite edge, the holes 
passing out upon the side. The lower part of the board 
is bevelled behind, thus forming a good scraping edge. 
After the coarse manure is pitched up, the fork is in- 




FOUK" BARN SCRArER. 



serted in the holes of the board, and a scraper is at once 
ready for use, figure 149. To store it, nail a cleat on the 
floor two inches from the wall, and secure the scraper 
behind this cleat ; place one foot upon the board and 



FAEM CONVENIENCES. 



181 



withdraw the fork. Notclies may be cut in the edge of 
the board ojDposite each hole, to assist in placing the tines. 



A METHOD OF CURINa HAY. 

A method of curing hay which has been used for sev- 
eral years with entire satisfaction consists in taking 




Fig. 150.— THE FRAME. 

four slender stakes six feet long, a, a, a, a (figure 150), 




Fig. 151. — THE SMALL STACK. 

fastened together at the upper ends with a loose joint 
similar to that of an ordinary tripod. One end of the 



182 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



fifth stake, h, rests on one of the four legs about a foot 
from the ground, the other end resting on the ground. 
The hay is stacked around this frame nearly to the top 
of the stakes, after which the stake, hy is withdrawn, 
and then the four upright stakes are removed. This is 
done by two men with hay forks, who raise them directly 
upAvards. As soon as the legs are lifted from the ground 
the pressure of the hay brings them together, and they 
can be removed with ease, leaving a small stack of hay, 
as shown in figure 151, with an air passage running from 
the bottom upw^ards through the centre of the small stack, 
as indicated by the dotted lines. 



GRANARY CONVENIENCES. 

The better plan for constructing grain bins is to have 
the upper front boards movable, that the contents may 




Fis:. 152.— STEPS IN A GRANARY. 



be more readily reached as they lessen. But as there are 
tens of thousands of granaries where the front bin boards 
are firmly nailed, a portable step, like that shown in 
figure 152, is almost a necessity. It should have two 



FAEM co:n^yexiexces. 



183 



steps of nine inches each, and be one foot wide, and two 
feet long on top. It is light and is easily moved about 
the granary. 

Every owner of a farm needs a few extra sieves, which, 
when not in use, are usually thrown in some corner, or 




Fig. 153.— A SIEVE RACK. 

laid on a box or barrel to be knocked about and often in- 
jured by this rough handling, besides being frequently 
in the way. A little rack, which may be readily made 




Fiff. 154.— A GRAIN BAG HOLDER. 



above one of the bins in the granary, as shown in figure 
153, is convenient to put sieves out of the way, and keep 
them from injury. 



184 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



Grain bags are too expensive and valuable to be scat- 
tered about the buildings. A simple mode of securing 
them is shown, which is at once cheap and safe. In the 
ceiling over the bins, staples are driven about four feet 
apart, to which are attached pieces of wire two feet in 
length. To these wires is fastened a pole five feet in 
length, over wiiich the bags are thrown Avhen not in use, 
and they are then out of reach of mice from tlie bins and 
wall, as shown in figure 154. 



A NON-SLIPPING CHAIN FOR BOULDERS. 

One great trouble in hauling boulders or large stones 
with team and chain is the liability of the chain to slip 
off, especially if the stone is nearly round. By the use 
of the contrivance shown in figure 155, nearly all of this 
trouble is avoided. It consists in passing two log chains 
around the stone and connecting them a few inches 
above the ground by a short chain or even a piece of rope 
or w'ire. Connect the chains in a similar manner near 
the top of the stone. The ends of the draught chains 
are attached to the wliipple-trees in any way desired. In 




Fig. 155,— METHOD OF FASTENING CHAINS ON A BOULDER. 

hauling down an incline, or where the ground is very 
rough, it will be best to wrap each chain clear around 
the stone, connecting with whipple-trees by a single chain, 
thereby preventing a possibility of the chains becoming 
detached or misplaced in any way. 



FARM COKVEKIEKCES. 



185 



A PITCHFORK HOLDER. 



Having occasion to go into the barn one night, we 
received a very bad wound from a pitchfork which had 
fallen from its standing position. This led ns to con- 
struct a holder, shown in the engravings. The fork- 
holder is made of an inch board, of a semicircular 
shape, with five holes large enough to admit a fork 
handle, bored near the curved side. This board is nailed 
to a standing post in the bam. A strap or curved bolt 
is placed some distance below to hold the handles in 




Fig. 156.— FRONT VIEW. 




157.— SIDE VIEW. 



place, as they rest on a bottom board fixed for the pur- 
pose. Figure 156 shows the front view of the holder ; 
figure 157 gives the side view. 



186 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



A CONVENIENT HOG LOADER. 

Figure 158 shows the ^Hoacler" attached to a wagon, 
with the rack. The bed-piece consists of two pine boards, 
SIX inches wide by nine feet long. These are fastened 
together by three cross-pieces of the same material, of 
proper length, so that the '^bed '• will just fit in between 
the sides of the wagon -box. A floor is laid on these 
cross-pieces, on which short strips of lath are nailed, to 
prevent hogs from slipping. At one end the sides are 
notched to fit on the bottom of the wagon-box. There are 
two staples on each side by which the sides are fastened 
on. The '^ rack " is made like an ordinary top-box, with 
the exception that each side is composed of three narrow 
boards about four inches apart, and nailed to three cleats 
(the two end cleats to be on the inside, and the middle 
one on the outside of the rack), and projecting down 




158. — RACK FOli LOADING HOGS. 



the side of the wagon-box. End-boards are made and 
fastened in like those of an ordinary wagon-box. For 
unloading the hogs nothing but the bed-piece need be 
used, which, being light, may be easily thrown on and 



taken with the wagon. 



FAllM CUXVEXIEXCES. 18? 

A HOME-MADE ROLLER. 

Take a log six or eight feet long, eighteen or twenty 
inches in diameter, and put pins in each end for journals, 
either of wood one and a half inch, or iron one inch. 
Make a frame of two by four scantlings, or flat rails 
three or four feet long to suit the size of the roller. 
Bore holes for journals a little back of centre, and also 
inch-holes two inches from the back end of scantlings. 
Fasten these ends together with a chain .or rope tight 
enough to keep the scantlinors square with the ends of 




Fig. 159. — .1 HOME-MADE KOLLER. 

the log, figure 159. Fasten the front ends together 
with a stiff pole or rail, and put a heavy chain across 
the front, with one end around each front corner. Attach 
the double-tree at the middle of this chain. The draft 
chain and the pole will keep the front ends of the frame 
in position, and the chain behind will prevent the rear 
ends from spreading. When the roller goes faster than 
the team, the draft chain will slacken, and the front of 
the frame will drop and prevent the roller from striking 
the team. A roller is sucli a valuable implement that 
there should be one in use on every farm. Even a rough 
home-made roller is better than none, Avhether it is used 
to break up clods, or to compact the soil after sowing. 



A LAXD SCRAPER. 
In districts where land needs draining, scrapers must 
be used. A very good one is shown in figure 160. It 



188 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



has one advantage over most scrapers : the team can stay 
on the bank while the scraper is thrown into the ditch. 
When the ditch is a large one, fourteen feet or more 




Fig-. KiU.— A LAND SCKAPEK. 

wide at the top, it is only necessary to lengthen the 
chain. The scraper consists of two boards, twelve inches 
wide and three feet long, fastened firmly together by two 
strong iron plates, figure 161, 'p, p, bolts, and rod-iron 
nails. The scraper-edge is made of an old cross-cut saw, 




Fij?. 101.— FKONT OF SCKAPER. 

fastened on with rod-iron nails. Two notches are cut 
at p, p, for the hooks to pass through, also one at n, 
for a holder for lifting the scraper when necessary. 
To make the scraper work perfectly, the rod or hook 
should have the right bend, as shown at a, figure 162, 



FAEM CON-VEXIEXCES. 189 

The hook is fastened to the scraper by two bolts, b, h. 




Fig. 162. — TUE HOOK-ROD. 

figure 162, and small pins, c, when the land scraper is 
complete. 



A HOME-MADE BAG-HOLDER. 

This bag-holder is one of the most useful articles a 
man can have in his barn. It consists of a post, a, two 
by four inches, and five feet long, with six one-half inch 
holes near the upper end, as shown in figure 163. The 
bar, h, passes through a mortise and over the pin nearest 




Fig. 163.— A HAXDY BAG-HOLDER. 

the bag, and under the other pin. This bar can be 
moved up or down, to suit the length of the bag. The 
post, «, sets in a bed-piece, c, two by three inches and 



190 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



two feet long. A board, d, eighteen inches square, fast- 
ened upon the bed-piece, furnishes the necessary rest for 
the bag. Tlie mouth of the bag is held open by means 
of hooks placed on the ends of the cross-bar, with an- 
other beneath the main bar. 



A SAFETY EGG-CARRIER. 

In figure 164, a represents the bottom-board of the 
spring-box, near the edges of which are fastened six wire- 
coil springs or bed-springs. At l is represented a hole 
made in the board to receive the lower end of the spring, 
about half an inch of which is bent down for that pur- 
pose. Small staples are driven into the board to hold 




Fig. 1G4. — BOTTOM-BOAKD OF SPKING-BOX. 

the springs in place. Scraj)s of leather or tin might be 
tacked or screwed down, instead of using staples ; d, d, 
are leather straps, an inch or more wide, and long 
enough to reach from the bottom-board, where each one 
is fastened by two screws, to the egg-box, after being 
placed on the springs. Figure 165 represents the side 



FARM COKVEKIEKCES. 



191 



and end boards, which, when placed over the bottom- 
board holding the springs, forms the spring-box ; scre^vs 
fasten the side and end-boards to the bottom-board of 
the spring-box, pieces of tin being nailed around the 
corners of the box, to give it proper strength, the nails 
being clinched on the inside. 

After securing the springs and straps to the bottom- 
board, the egg-box should be placed on the springs, 
and the points of the springs placed in holes previously 
made in the bottom of the egg-box to receive them. 
Now put a sufficient weight in the egg-box to settle it 
down firmly on the springs, and fasten the upper ends 
of the straps to the box, being careful to have the box 




Fig. 165. — FKAME FOK HOLDING EGG-BOX. 

set level. Having done this, take the part, figure 165, 
and put it down over the egg-box to its place, and make 
it fast to the bottom-board of the spring-box with heavy 
screws. The object of the bottom, figure 165, is to keep 
the springs from being strained to one side in goiug over 
rough gronnd. It should be made one-quarter inch or 
so larger than the egg-box, that the latter may have the 
benefit of the springs. Our former custom was to put 
a feeding of hay in the wagon-box, about midway from 
one end to the other, place the egg-box on the hay, and 
drive carefully over the rough places. But more or less 



192 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

eggs would be broken, the best we could do, whether 
they were packed in bran or put in paper ^'boxes'' or 




Fill-. 166.— EGG-BOX COMPLETE. 



cases. After setting the box on springs as described, 
place it on the bottom boards of the Avagon-box, with 
one end directly over the forward axle of the wagon. 



A BUSH-ROLLER. 

Figure 137 shows a device which has been made for 
clearing sage-bush land. - It consists of a roller, eight 
feet long and two and a half feet in diameter, coupled 
by a short tongue — six feet is long enough — to the for- 
ward wheels of a wagon. A standard at each end of the 
roller-frame supports a cross-piece just clear of the 
roller. Upon this cross-piece, about four feet apart, 
and extending to the bolster of the wagon, are bolted 
two pieces of one and a quarter by six-inch spruce 
boards. A board is placed across the centre for a seat, 
thus making a complete and easy-inclining ^' buck- 
board." "With a span of good horses and this machine, 
figure 167, one can roll from eight to ten acres of sage- 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 193 

bush in a dav ; and it is so easily killed, that in two or 




Fig. 167. — A HOME-MADE BUSH-ROLLEK. 

three weeks after such treatment, it will burn oft* like a 
prairie on fire. 



BROOD-SOW PENS. 



Figures 168 and 169 represent a convenient arrange- 
ment for brood sows. The pens arc not equal to the 




Fig. 168. — PLAN OF CHEAP PIG-PEK. 

costly piggeries of wealthy breeders, but they answer a 
good purpose in a new country, where farmers are 
obliged to get along cheaply. Many who have built ex- 
9 



194 



FARM CONVENIENCES, 



pensive houses say these pens answer a better purpose. 
First, there is a tightly-boarded pen (except in front), 
sixteen feet by twelve feet. This is divided into four 
nests, twelve by four feet. A 
shed roof extends eight feet from 
tlie rear. The tops of the nests 
are covered with boards, and the 
space between this room and the 
roof is filled with straw, making 
it wind-tight, except in front. 
When young pigs are expected 
durin 
a gunny sack in 
figure 169, are the most convenient. Tlie board door is 
slipped in from the top, between pairs of cross-boards in 
the pig-pen. 




Fig. 169.~DOOK TO PEN. 

bans 



^ the cold weather of winter, 
front of the nest. The doors, 



A RABBIT TRAP. 



Rabbits are a great nuisance both in the garden and 
orchard, and a trap of the following kind put in a black- 




Fig. 170. — A GOOD RABBIT TRAP. 

berry patch, or some place where they like to hide, will 
thin them out wonderfully. A common salt barrel, with 



FARM CONVENIEN^CES. 195 

a notch sawed out at the top, is set in the ground level 
with the top. There is an entrance box, four feet long, 
with side pieces seven inches wide — top and bottom four 
and a half or five inches. The bottom board is cut in 
two at h, and is somewhat narrower than in front, that it 
may tilt easily on a pivot at c. A small washer should 
be placed on each side of the trap at c, that it may not 
bind in tilting. The distance from 1) io c should be 
somewhat longer than from c to d, that the board will 
fall back in place after being tipped.. No bait is re- 
quired, because a rabbit (hare) is always looking for a 
place of security. The bottom of the box should be even 
with the top of the ground at the entrance to the top of 
the barrel. The barrel should be covered closely with a 
board, as shown in figure 170. Remove the rabbits from 
the trap as fast as they are caught. 



WOODEN STABLE FLOOR. 

Elm makes an excellent and durable stable floor ; the 
fibre of the wood is tough and yielding. The planks 
should be secured in position by wooden pins, as they 
are constantly liable to warp. Any of the soft oaks 
make a good floor ; the hard, tough varieties are un- 
yielding, and, until they have been in use several months, 
horses are liable to slip and injure themselves in getting 
up. Both pine and hemlock make good floors, being 
soft and yielding, but they are not as durable as many 
other woods. Planks for a stable floor should be two and 
a half inches in thickness, and not laid until quite thor- 
oughly seasoned, and then always put down lengthwise 
of the stall, and upon another floor laid crosswise, as 
shown at 5, 5, l, figure 171. The planks of this floor, 
or cross floor, should be laid one inch apart, that they 



196 



FARM CONVENIEKCES. 



may the more readily dry oft', and offer a better ventila- 
tion to the floor above. Unless the upper floor is of ma- 
terial liable to warp, it should not be nailed or pinned, 
but made as close-fitting as possible. It is not profitable 
or necessary to have the stall j^lanks more than eleven 
and a half feet in length, or extend farther back than 
the stall partition, as shown at e, c. This plan leaves a 




;nsv§;> 



Fig. 171. — MANNER OF LAYING A STABLE FLOOR. 



wide smooth walk behind the stalls at h, so necessary 
for ease and rapidity in cleaning the manure from the 
stable. 

Some horse-keepers prefer a slatted floor, similar to 
that shown in figure 172. Material of the proper length, 
four inches wide and two inches thick, is set upon edge, 
as at li. with a strip three-quarters of an inch thick and 
one and a half inch wide placed between the slats, the 
whole made to fit the stall as closely as possible. By this 
method it is quite impossible for horses to become so 



FARM CONVEKIENCES. 



197 



dirty as when lying upon a common plank floor, as the 
space between the slats form a most admirable channel 




Fig. 172. — A SLATTED STABLE FLOOR. 

for carrying off the urine. A few days' constant use 
somewhat clogs the passages, but they are readily opened 
by using a home-made cleaner, like that shown in figure 
173. Stable floors should have at least one inch descent 




Fig. 173.— A CLEANER FOR A SLATTED FLOOR. 

in ten feet, and many make the descent three and even 
four inches in the same distance, but this is unnecessary. 
All stabled animals should stand upon floors as nearly 
level as is consistent w^ith cleanliness. 



A RAIL HOLDER OR "GRIP." 

Drive two posts, I, b, figure 1 74, three feet long, firmly 
in tlie ground, four feet apart, between two parallel logs, 
a, a. A third post or ''jaw," c, somewhat shorter, is 



198 FARM CONYENIEKCES. 

mortised in a block placed between the logs, and out of 
line with, or to one side of the posts, 5, J, so as to hold 
a rail, d, between the three. A lever, e, eight feet long, 
and heavy at the outer end, is mortised into another 
block, which is placed on the side of I, h, both blocks 
bearing against the posts. The lever and jaw are con- 




RAIL HOLDER. 



nected by a chain j)assing around the lever, over its block 
and through a hole in the jaw. An iron pin through a 
link couj)les them just enough apart to hold a rail firmly 
when the lever is on the ground. To remove the rail, 
raise the lever and rest it upon the small post, /, at the 
farther end, which slackens the chain. 



A CHEAP AND DURABLE GRINDSTONE-BOX AND 
HANGERS. 

A good grindstone, well hung, is one of the most val- 
uable aids about the farm or Avorkshop. .Those who 
cannot afford to buy a very neat and handy grindstone 
frame of the hardware dealers, will find a frame and 
hangers shown in figure 175, that for convenience, cheap- 



FARM COisVEi^IENCES. 199 

ness, and durability is hard to excel. The frame con- 
sists of a well-seasoned '^trough " of 2)ine or other wood, 
fourteen inches square (or even one foot square), and 
from two and a half to three and a half feet in length, 
to which legs are nailed at h, I, four inches wide, an 
inch and a half thict, and bevelled at the top. Sup- 
ports or hangers, li, li, are nailed firmly to the side, as 
indicated ; they should be hard wood, and of a size to 
coiTespond with dimensions and weight of stone. The 
shaft may be of iron or wood ; fit a piece of sheet lead, 
or piece of lead pipe, ]3roperly flattened out, in the top 
of each hanger ; this will cause the shaft to turn easily, 
and prevent all squeaking for want of oil. The wooden 
plug at r, is for drawing off the water after each using 
of the stone, and should in no case be neglected. If one 
side of the stone is left standing in water, it softens, and 




Fig. 175. — A BOX FOR A GRINDSTONE. 

the surface will soon wear quite uneven. After the box 
is completed, give it one heavy coat of boiled oil ; then 
in a few days apply a coat of lead and oil, and with even 
common care, it will last a lifetime. When the stone 
becomes worn, it is kept down to the water by simply 
deepening the groove in the top of the hangers. Always 



200 FAKM CONVENIENCES. 

buy a long shaft for a grindstone, for in this age of reap- 
ers and mowers, the cutting apparatus of which must be 
ground, a long shaft for a grindstone is almost a neces- 
sity, or truly a great convenience. If the grindstone is 
to stand out-doors, always cover it with a closely fitting 
wooden box when it is not in use. 



A "LADDER" FOR LOADING CORN. 

Take a plank two inches thick, ten inches wide, and 
eight feet long. Nail upon one side of it cleats, of one- 
inch by two-inch stuff, at easy stepping distances apart. 
At the upper end nail upon the underside of the plank 
a cleat projecting four inches upon either side, to which 




Fig. 176.— A "ladder" for loading corn. 

attach small ropes or chains, and suspend the ladder 
from the hind end of the rack, so that one end of the 
plank will rest upon the ground. This makes a very 
convenient step-ladder, up which a man can carry a large 
armful of fodder, and thus load his wagon to its full ca- 
pacity with greater ease than two men could load it from 
the ground. I find it of great convenience to me when 
hauling corn fodder alone. The " Ladder " is shown in 
figure 176. 



FARM CONVEKIENCES. 



201 



PROTECTING OUTLET OF DRAINS. 

One of the greatest annoyances in imderd raining is 
the trouble arising from the outlet becoming choked or 
filled up by the trampling of animals, the action of 
frost, or even of water in times of freshets. This trouble 




Fi-. 1 



END OF TILE DKAIN. 



is quite successfully overcome by the arrangement as shown 
in figure 177; it consists of a plank, ten or twelve inches 
in width, and five or six feet in length, with a notch cut 
in one side, near the centre. This plank is set upon 




Fig. 178.— LOGS AT END OF DRAIN. 

edge at the outlet of the drain, with the notch directly 
over the end of the tile, and is held in position by several 
stakes on the outside, with earth or stone throw^n against 
the opposite side. This plan is best for all light soils, 
9* 



203 



FARM CONVEKIENCES. 



while for heavy clay land the one sliown in figure 178 is 
just as good, and in most cases will prove more durable. 
It consists of two logs, eight or ten inches in diameter, 
and from three to ten feet in length, placed parallel 
with the drain, and about six inches apart; the whole is 
covered with plank twenty inches long, laid crosswise. 
Flat stones will answer and are more lasting than planks. 
The whole is covered with earth, at least eighteen inches 
in depth ; two feet or more would be better, especially if 
the soil is to be plowed near the outlet. 



A LOG BOAT. 

A convenient boat for dragging logs is shown in figure 
179. The runners, d, d, are two by six inches and four 
and a half feet long ; the plank is two by nine inches, 
and three and a half feet long. A mortise is made at li 
for the chain to pass through. The cross-piece, c, is four 
by seven inches, and three and a half feet long, and 
worked down to four and a half inches in the middle. 
Notches are cut into the cross-piece four inches wide and 
two inches deep, to receive the scantlings, e, e, two by 



,,_-f 




Fig. 179.— A STOUT LOG BOAT. 

four inches, and three feet long, which are fastened down 
by strong bolts, as shown at the dotted lines,/./. The 
two bolts in front, J, h, go through the scantling, plank 
and runner, while the bolts, g,g, pass only through the 
plank and runner. 

It will be more convenient to load the logs by horses. 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



203 



as shown in the ilhisfcration, figure 180. The boat is 
raised with its upper side against the log. The chain is 
fastened to the cross-piece at a, with the large hook, and 
the other end is put around the log, under the runner 
and cross-piece at h, and pulled through between the 
runner and scantling at c, when the end of the chain, d, 
is fastened to the whippletree. As the team is started, the 




Fig. 180.— LOADING THE LOGS. 

boat tips over, with the log on top. Loosen the chain 
from the two-horse evener, and pull it back through the 
runner and scantling at c, and through the hole. 



CHEAP AND DURABLE WAGON SEATS. 

It is tiresome to be jolted over rough roads, in a wagon 
without springs, Avith a simple board for a seat ; but no 
farmer or cartman need adhere to this practice, when 
comfortable and portable seats can be so easily and 
cheaply made. 

For a one-man seat, that shown in figure 181 is the 
simplest and most durable, and should be one foot longer 




Fig. 181.— SPRING SEAT FOR ONE PERSON. 

than the wagon-box is wide ; the connecting blocks 
should be four inches high, and placed near the ends. 



204 FAKM CO:JfVEXIENCES. 

The one shown in figure 182 is arranged for two persons, 
the connecting block being placed in the centre, the 
ends being kept a uniform distance apart by bolts, with 
the nut upon the lower side, out of the way. The hole 




Fig. 183. — V DOUBLE SPRING SEAT. 

for the bolt through the lower board should be just large 
enough to allow the bolt to play freely. 

In figure 183 is shown a seat a little more expensive, 
yet far more elastic. Both boards are eight inches longer 
than the width of the box upon which they rest. At 
each end of the top-board is mortised or nailed in a strip 
of hard wood, one inch thick, two inches wide, and 
about seven inches in length, which is made to pass 
freely up and down in a corresponding notch sawed in 



Fig. 183.— A COILED SPRING SEAT. 

the end of the lower board. At or near each comer of 
the seat is placed a coiling spring. A pin, passed 
through the wooden strip near the bottom, keeps the 
seat-boards from separating. 



A BAG-HOLDER ON PLATFORM SCALES. 

Figure 184 shows a contrivance which does away with 
the need of a second person in filling grain bags, 
and is both cheap and simple. It is attached to a 
platform scales for convenience in weighing, and consists 



FAKM COKVEi^IENCES. 



205 



of an iron hoojo, nearly as large around as a bag. The 
hoop has four small hooks on it, at equal distances apart, 
to which the bag is fastened. Attached to the lioop is 
a piece of iron about six inches long, exclusive of the 
shank, which slips into a socket fastened to the front of 
the upright enclosing the rods, that run from the bot- 
tom of the scale to the weighing beam. This iron and 
hoop are fastened securely together. The shank should 
fit loosely in the socket, to let the hoop tilt down, so 
that the bag can be readily unhooked. There is an eye- 
bolt in the hoop where the iron rod joins it, and a rod 






ft 



:i^/'' 



Ml 



m 



Y\^. 184. — A BAG-HOLDER ON PLATFORM SCALES, 

with a hook on the upper end is fastened into it. This 
rod reaches to a staple fastened above tlie socket on the 
upright of the scales, as shown in figure 184. When the 
hook on the end of this rod is slipped into the staple, it 
lifts the hoop to a level position, and is of sufficient 
strength to hold a bag of grain. The hoop should be 
high enough to allow a bag to clear the platform of the 



206 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



scales. When filled, a sharp blow of the hand removes 
the hook of the sustaining rod, and lets the hoop tilt 
downward, when the bag rests on the platform. The 
hoop can be swung to one side, and entirely out of the 
way. We have a sort of hopper made out of an old dish 
pan with the bottom cut out. It is very conyenient to 
keep grain from spilling while filling the bags. 



MAKING BOARD DRAINS. 

On very many farms, wooden drains are used in place 
of tiles, but mostly in new districts where timber is cheap, 
and tiles cannot be purchased without much expense. 
They will answer the purpose well, without much ex- 
pense. Wooden drains, if laid deep enough, so that the 
u n b. 




Fig. 185.— FliAME FOR HOLDING BOARDS. 

frost will not affect them, will last many years. We know 
of an old drain that has been built twelve years, where 
the timber is still sound in some spots. To make wooden 
drains, two men are generally required — one to hold the 
boards, and another to nail them. This mode of con- 
structing board drains can be improved upon by making 
a *' standard,'' which consists of an upright board three 
feet high, having notches cut into it six inches apart, 
one inch wide, and several inches deep, to hold the 
boards firm. The boards d, h, figure 185, are laid into 
the notches, n, n, when the top board can be quickly 



FARir CONVENIENCES. 207 

and easily nailed on. Another method, shown in figure 
186, consists of two j)osts, driven into the ground about 
three feet from a fence, with a board nailed across from 



E 




Fig. 186. — FRAME BY A FENCE. 



each post to the fence. Notches are then cut into each 
cross-board several inches deep, when it will be ready 
for use. 



PUT THINGS IN THEIR PLACES. 

We have in mind an extensive and ^Yell-tilled farm, 
where a large space in the end of a wagon-shed is called 
a tool-room. The tools are deposited in the barn, wood- 
shed, crib, in the field, hung in trees, anywhere but in 
the right place. The tool-room floor is covered with 
heaps of rusty iron, old leather, broken harness, frag- 
ments of tools, and other accumulations of forty years of 
farm life. The old iron should be sorted over, and any 
bolts, nuts, rings, hooks, etc., that are good, maybe put 
in a box by themselves, and the rest should go to the junk 
dealer. There may be a few straps and buckles of the 
old harness worth saving. If so, oil the leather and lay 
it aside ; throw the rest out of sight. Put a light scaf- 
fold near the roof -plates, and pile many small articles 
upon it ; they will be out of the way and within easy 
reach. Make a drawer in a bench for holding small 
tools, and a row of pigeon-holes for nails, screws, etc. 
Across one end of the room, in front of the plate, fasten 



208 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

a long narrow board by pegs, so that a six-inch space will 
be between the plates and board. Let the pegs be a foot 
apart and stand out beyond the board some five or six 
inches, npon which to hang long-handled tools. About 
four feet from tlie floor make a simihir rack for shovels. 




Fig. 187.— SECTION OF A TOOL KOOM. 

picks, chains, whippletrees, etc. Bring all the tools to 
this room, except those needed every day in the barn. 
There should be a paint-pot in the tool-house, to use^on 
a rainy day for painting the tools. Figure 187 shows a 
section of a well-arranged tool-room. 

Lay down this law to your man-servant and maid- 
servant, to your son and daughter, to your borrowing 



FARM CONVEl^IENCES. 



209 



neighbor and your good wife, to all that in your house 
•abide, and to yourself : *' That whoever uses a tool shall, 
when his or her w^ork is done, return the tool to the 
tool-houseand place it where it was found." 



WATER-SPOUT AND STOCK-TROUGH. 

The water-trough for the stock should not be imme- 
diately under the jDump spout, but some ten or twelve 
feet distant, a spout being employed to convey the water. 
This spout (figure 188) is made of two good pieces of clean 
white pine, inch stuff. One piece is four inches and the 
other is three inches wide, nicely planed and jointed. If 
securely nailed, it will not leak for a long time, but when 
it does, let it dry, and then run hot pitch down the joint. 
The trough should be made of two-inch oak, or pine of 
the same thickness may do, if kept well j)ainted, inside 




Fig. 188. — WATER-TROUGII. 

and out. Instead of nailing on the sides to the ends, 
have the ends fitted into grooves, and use rods, w^ith 
burrs on them to bring the sides up tightly to their 
places. When the trough leaks, tighten up the burrs a 
little with a wrench, and the trouble generally ceases for 
the time. Even the best trough is by no means very 
lasting, and its longevity is increased by keeping it thor- 
oughly painted, inside and out, with good paint. Where 



210 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

there are horses that destroy the edges of the trough 
with their teeth, it is a good phiii to rim it all around 
with thin iron. The spout, where it goes under the 
pump, can have a strap slipped over the nozzle of the 
pumj). 



A DESIRABLE MILKING SHED. 

{See Frontispiece.) 
We recently observed a peculiarly constructed building 
used as a milking shed during the warmer portions of 
the year. It is a common frame structure, thirty-five 
feet in length and eighteen feet wide, with posts eight 
feet high. The sides and ends are boarded up and 
down with eight-inch stuff, leaving a space three inches 
wide between the boards for ventilation, light, etc. A 
row of common stanchions are placed along each side. 
A door is made at one end, through which the cows 
enter. If grain is fed, it is placed in position before the 
cows are admitted. A small quantity of salt is kept on 
the floor, immediately in front of the stanchions, thus 
allowing the cows to obtain a supply twice each day. 
This manner of salting is an inducement for the cows to 
enter the building and take their accustomed places ; it 
also tends to keep them quiet while milking. This 
arrangement, for cleanliness, ventilation, etc., is far 
superior to the common basement stables, and is a great 
improvement over the usual plan of milking in the open 
yard, wdiere broken stools, spilled milk, and irritable 
tempers are the rule rather than the exception. No 
matter how stormy it may be without, this shed alw\ays 
secures a dry place, with comparative quiet. A greater 
supply of milk is obtained with such a shed. The floor 
of the stable portion may be of earth, covered with 
coarse gravel. 



FARM COKVEKIEKCES. 211 

WEAR PLATE FOR HARNESS TUGS AND COLLARS. 

In the manufacture of improved harness trimmings, 
deyices are emploj^ed to prevent, as much as possible, 
the wear and breaking of the tugs where the buckle 
tongue enters them. This is quite an important point 
with those jDurchasing new harness. The simple con- 
trivance, such as is shown in figure 189, consists of a 




Fig. 189. — WEAR PLATE FOK TUG. 

thin iron plate a little narrower than the tug, and about 
two inches in length, with a hole for the reception of 
the buckle-tongue when placed between the tug and the 
buckle. The strain from the buckle upon the tug is 
equally distributed over the entire surface against which 
the plate rests. A harness thus equipped will last many 
years longer than those not so provided. There is 
another part of the harness that 
is the cause of much trouble— 
mainly, the part where the tug 
comes in contact with the col- 
lar. The tug and its fasten- 
ings to the hame soon wear 
through the collar, and com- 
press the latter so much that 
during heavy pulling the horse's 
shoulder is often pinched, 
chafed, and lacerated. This 
is worse than carelessness on 
the part of the teamster, as the collar should be kept 
plump at this point, by re-filling when needed ; yet, very 
much of this trouble may be avoided by tacking to the 




190. — WEAR PLATE 
FOR HAMES. 



21^ 



FARM COHVEI^IE]SrCES. 



underside of the hame a piece of leather, as shown in 
figure 190. It will be found not only to save the collar, 
but prevent chafing of the shoulder. 



POTABLE WATER FENCE. 

The water fence, shown in figure 191, is one of the 
best we have ever used, and those who live near or on 
tide-water will find such an one very useful. This fence 
is made usually of pine ; the larger pieces, those which 
lie on the ground and parallel with the **run " of the 
fence, are three by four-inch pieces, hemlock or pine, 
and connected by three cross-bars, of three by four-inch 
pieces, mortised in, three feet apart. Into the middle 




Fig. 191.— SECTION OF A WATER FENCE. 

of these three cross-pieces (the upright or posts), are 
securely mortised, while two common boards are nailed 
underneath the long pieces to afford a better rest for the 
structure when floating on the water, or resting on the 
ground. Stout wires are stretched along the posts, 
which are four feet high. 



DITCH CLEANER AND DEEPENER. 

Open ditches require constant attention to prevent 
their being choked with weeds and accumulations of silt. 



FARM CONVENIEKCES. 213 

Keeping them cleaned out with a hoe is a difficult and 
laborious task, while drawing a log down them, is un- 
satisfactory and ineffective. To run a plow along the 
bottom is not only a disagreeable task, but frequently 
does more harm than good. In view of these facts we 
devised the simple and effective implement shown in 
figure 192. 

The centre-piece is six by eight-inch oak, eight feet 
long, and shaped as shown in the cut. The wings, or 




Fig. 192.— A CLEANEK FOR DITCHES. 

scrapers, are made of oak, or other tough wood ; boards 
ten inches wide. They are attached to the centre-piece 
at the forward end by an inch bolt that passes through 
all three pieces. They are connected at the rear end by 
a strong cross-bar of hard- wood. Twelve or fifteen inches 
back of this bar the end of the lever is attached to the 
centre-piece by an eye and staple. A short chain is 
fastened underneath the centre of the cross-bar, with an 
eye-bolt passing through it. The chain is attached to 
the lever with a hook, and may be lengthened or short- 
ened as required. 

The implement is drawn by two horses, one on each 
side of the ditch. A man stands on the centre-piece, and 
handles the lever. If the ditch is narrow and deep, the 
rear ends of the wings or scrapers will naturally be forced 
upward to a considerable hight, and the lever chain 
should be lengthened accordingly. In wide, shallow 



214 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



ditches, the cross-bar will nearl^'rest on the centre-piece, 
and the chain must be short. Tlie scrapers are forced 
down hard by bearing on the lever. If the bottom of 
the ditch is hard, two men may ride on the implement. 
Long weeds catching on the forward end must be re- 
moved with a fork. A strap of iron is fastened across 
the forward ends of the scrajoers where the bolt passes 
through to prevent them from splitting. The horses 
may be kept the proper distance apart by means of a 
light pole fastened to the halter rings. 



HOW TO BUILD A DAM. 



A form of crib, shown in figure 193, is built of logs, 
about eight feet square for ordinary streams. The bot- 
tom should have cross-pieces pinned on the lowest logs. 
The stones that fill the crib rest on these cross-pieces, 




193.— A CllIB FOR A DAM, 



and hold everything secure. The crib can be partly builfc 
on shore, then launched, and finished in its place in the 
dam. All the logs should be firmly pinned together. 
The velocity of the stream will determine the distance 



FARM CONVEKIEKCES. 215 

between the cribs. The intervening spaces are occupied 
with logs, firmly fastened in their places. Stone is filled 




ilg. i'c;4.— i.Ou i-lCA.ViE FVli A DAM. 

in between the logs, and the bottom is made water-tight 
with brush and clay. 

Adam without cribs, built of timbers spliced together, 
and reaching quite across the stream, is shown in figure 
194. The frame is bonnd together with tiers of cross-tim- 
bers about ten feet apart. The sides of this framework 
of spliced logs are slanting and nearly meet at the top. 
The interior is filled with stone and clay, and planked 
over tightly, both front and rear. For a small stream 
with an ordinary current, this is perhaps the cheapest 
and most durable dam made. The engravings fully 
illustrate the construction of the two forms. 



DRIVING HOP AND OTHER POLES. 

The usual method of driving stakes, etc., is to strike 
them on the upper end with a sledge or other heavy ar- 
ticle ; but in the case of hop or other long poles this 
mode is impracticable. Hop poles are usually set by 
making a hole with an iron bar and forcing into it the 



21.6 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



lower end of the pole. Poles and other long stakes often 
need to be driven deeply in the 
ground, and this may be done quick- 
ly, and without a high step or plat- 
^_^~^ : form, by using a device shown in 

r tim I figure 195. This consists of a block 

of tough wood, one foot in length, 
four or five inches square at the top, 
made tapering, as shown, with the 
part next the pole slightly hollowed 
out. Take a common trace chain, 
wind closely about the block and 
pole, and hook it in position. With 
an axe, sledge, or beetle, strike 
heavy blows upon the block. Each 
blow serves only to tighten the grip 
of the chain upon the pole. In this 
way, quite large poles or stakes may 
be quickly driven firmly in the ground. To keep the 
chain from falling to the ground when unfastened from 
the pole, it should pass through a hole bored through 
the block. 




A CONVENIENT GRAIN BOX. 

The box here represented, figure 196, is at the foot, 
and just outside of the bin. It serves as a step when 
emptying grain into the bin. The front side of it is 
formed by two pieces of boards, hung on hinges at the 
outside corners, and fastened at the middle with a hook 
and staple. The contriyance opens into the bin at the 
back, thus allowing the grain to flow into it. When a 
quantity of grain is to be taken from the bin, the cover 
is fastened up, the front pieces swung round, giving a 
chance to use the scoop-shovel to fill bags or measures. 



FARM COKVEI^IENCES. 



217 



The box is a foot deep and sixteen inches wide. Its 
length is the same as the width of the bin. The first 
four boards, forming the front of the bin, may be made 
stationary by this arrangement, as, at that convenient 
bight, bags may be emptied over by using the box as a 
step. The cost of this is about seventy-five cents. An 
improvement has the front piece and ends nailed together, 





Fi,^. VM. GRAIN BOXES. 

and the whole fastened to the bin-posts by hooks and 
staples from the end-pieces, as shown in figure 197. 
Then the whole could be removed by unhooking the fast- 
enings, and the cover could be let down, to form the 
lower board on the front of the bin, if desired. 



A ROAD-SCRAPER. 

A road-scraper is shown in figure 198, which consists 
of a heavy plank or hewn log, of oak or any other hard 
timber, six feet long, six inches in thickness, and ten 
inches wide. A scantling, J, two by four inches thick 
and six feet long, and the brace, c, are secured to the 
log, a, by a strong bolt. The edge of the scraper is 
made of an old drag-saw, and secured by rod-iron 
nails. The scantling serves as a reach, and is attached 
to the front part of a heavy wagon, when in use. When 
10 



218 



FAEM CONVE:t^IEJTCES. 



the road is very hard, it becomes necessary sometimes 
for the driver to stand on the scraper, to make it take 
better hold. The scraper should be shaped about as 




Fig 198. — A KOAD-SCIiAPEK. 

shown at d, in the engraving, so as to make it run steady, 
and cause the loose dirt to slide to one side, and leave 
it in the middle of the road. 



AIDS IN DIGGINa ROOT CROPS. 

Figure 199 shows a carrot and sugar beet lifter, made 
in the following manner : Take a piece of hard wood, 
two and a lialf by three inches, and six feet long, for the 
main piece, «, into which make a mortise two feet from 




Fig. 199.— A ROOT LIFTER. 

the wheel end, to receive the lifting foot (figure 200) ; 
attach two handles, &, l, at one end, and a wheel, c, at 
the other. This wheel can be set high or low as desired, 
by the set screw, d, in the clevis, e. Figure 201 sliows 
the lifting '^foot" separate from the machine. This is 
made of flat iron or steel, five-eighths inch thick and 



FARM CONVENIEKCES. 219 

three inches wide, with a steel point and a small wing 
at the bottom. It is in the curved form seen in the 
engraving. The roots are first topped with a sharp hoe 
or sickle, two rows of tops being thrown into one, w^hich 
leaves one side of the rows clear for the lifter. The 
horse walks between the rows and the foot of the imple- 
ment enters the ground at the side of the roots in a 





Fig. 200. Fig. 201. 

slanting direction, as shown in figure 201, lifting the 
roots so they may be rapidly picked up. The imple- 
ment is very easily made to run deep or shallow, by 
simply changing the wheel and lifting, or pressing down 
upon the handles. A ^^foot," made in the form of 
figure 200, may be placed in the centre arm of a com- 
mon horse hoe with sides closed, and used as above. 



THE WOOD-LOT IN WINTER. 

A few acres in trees is one of the most valuable of a 
farmer's j^ossessions ; yet no part of the farm is so mis- 
treated, if not utterly neglected. Aside from the fuel 
the wood-lot affords, it is both a great saving and a 
great convenience to have a stick of ash, oak, or hickory 
on hand, to repair a break-down, or to build some kind 
of rack or other appliance. As a general thing, such 
timber as one needs is cut off, without any reference to 



220 FARM CONVENIENCES. 

what is left. By a proper selection in cutting, and the 
encouragement of the young growth, the wood-lot will 
not only continue to give a supply indefinitely, but even 
increase in value. A beginning, and often the whole, of ' 
the improvement of the wood-lot, is usually to send a 
man or two to ^' brush it," or clean away the under- 
brush. This is a great mistake. The average laborer 
will cut down everything ; fine young trees, five or six 
years old, go into the heap with young poplars and the 
soft underbrush. The first point in the management of 
the wood-lot is, to provide for its continuance, and gen- 
erally there are young trees in abundance, ready to grow 
on as soon as given a chance. In the bracing winter 
mornings one can find no more genial and profitable 
exercise than in the wood-lot. Hard-wooded and use- 
ful young trees should not have to struggle with a mass 
of useless brush, and a judicious clearing up may well 
be the first step. In timber, we need a clean, straight, 
gradually tapering and thoroughly sound trunk. In 
the dense forest, nature provides this. The trees are 
so crowded that they grow only at the upper branches. 
The lower branches, while young, are starved out and 
soon perish, the wounds soon healing over are out of 
sight. In our open wood-lots, the trees have often large 
heads, and the growth that should be forming the trunk 
is scattered over a great number of useless branches. 
Only general rules can be given in pruning neglected 
timber trees ; the naked trunk, according to age, should 
be from one-third to one-half the whole hight of the 
tree ; hence some of the lower branches may need to be 
cut away. All the branches are to be so shortened in or 
cut back as to give the head an oval or egg-shaped out- 
line. This may sometimes remove half of the head, but 
its good effects will be seen in a few years. In removing 
branches, leave no projecting stub on the timber, and 



FARM COKVENIEKCES. 



221 



cover all large wounds with coal-tar. Whosoever works 
in this manner thoughtfully cannot go far astray. 



SWINGING-STALL FRONTS. 

The value of swinging-stall fronts is appreciated by 
those who have used them. They prevent the animals 
from putting their heads out into the alleys, and 
endangering themselves thereby. The ^'cribber,'' or 
"windsucker," has been made such by want of a con- 
trivance like the one shown in figure 202. Anyone 
with a moderate knowledge of the use of tools can put 
it up, as the engraving shows how it is made ; «, a, 




Fig. 203.— FRONT OF STALLS. 

being straps to fasten the ^^ fronts" down into place when 
they are not raised to feed the stock. Inch stuff consti- 
tutes the material. The cleats to which the strips are 
attached should be four inches wide, with the sharp, ex- 
posed edges taken off with a plane. The strips should be 
from two to two and a half inches wide, and attached with 
screws or wrought nails. The hinges can either be of 
wrought iron or of heavy leather. If more durable 
fronts are desired, oak, or yellow pine can be used, 
though it is much more expensive. Unplaned lumber 
will answer, but to make a neat, workmanlike job had 
better use planed lumber. 



222 FAKM COJ^VENIEJ^CES. 



SAVE ALL CORN FODDER EVERYWHERE. 

The profits of farming, as in other business, is the 
margin between receipts and expenditures. The receipts 
are largely augmented by saving wastes ; these wastes in 
farming are enormous in the aggregate. The losses in 
this direction, that might be saved, would make the bus- 
iness very profitable, where it is now barely paying, or 
not doing that. Take corn stalks, for example. The 
leaves and a portion of the stems that produce each bushel 
of corn have a certain amount of nutriment that would 
support and increase the weight and growth of animals. 
Yet of our great corn crop, seventeen hundred to two 
thousand million bushels annually, only a very small part 
of the fodder is turned to much account. At the very 
lowest estimate, the stalks yielding one bushel of corn 
are on the average worth ten cents for feed, even includ- 
ing the great corn regions — a total of two hundred mil- 
lion dollars. At the South, generally, little value is 
attached to corn stalks as fodder. At the West, many 
farmers let their cattle roam in the fields, pick off some 
leaves, eat a little of the stalk, and trample the rest 
down ; they pack the earth so much in trampling on it, 
that the damage thus done to many fields surpasses the 
value of the food obtained. 

Nearly the whole of a corn stalk, except a very little 
of the thin, hard outside coating, affords nutritious fod- 
der, if it is cut at the proper time, is well cured and ju- 
diciously fed. It needs to be cut w^hen not so green as 
to mould in the shock, but not so ripe as to lose all its 
succulence and become woody. Experience and obser- 
vation will generally indicate to every one the proper 
time of cutting it. 

In shocking corn, the stalks should be kept straight and 
parallel . The shocks should be large enough to not have 



FARM CONVEKIEKCES. 223 

too many stalks exposed to the weather, yet small enough 
to dry and cure through. For somewhat heavy corn, 
twelve hills square (one hundred and forty- four hills), is 
abundant for one shock. A good mode of shocking is 
this : WJien the shocks are set nearly perpendicular, 
draw the tops together very firmly with a rope, and tie 
temporarily — two men working together. Bind with 
straw or with stalks. For the latter choose tough, nearly 
ripe, long, slender stalks. *^ Bend-break" the top with 
the thumb and finger every two or three inches. Thrust 
the butt end into the shock and towards the centre nearly 
two feet, and carefully bend-break it at the surface to a 
right angle. Insert a similar top-broken stalk two feet 
distant ; bring the toj) of the first one firmly around the 
shock, bend it around the second stalk close to the shock, 
and then bend the second stalk around and over a third 
one ; and so on, using as many stalks as required by size 
of shock and length of binders. Bring the end of the 
last one over the bend in the first, and tuck it under the 
binder into a loop, into which insert a stalk stub, push- 
ing it into the shock to hold the loop. All this is more 
quickly done than described. 



IMPROVED BRUSH RAKE. 

One of the most disagreeable tasks connected with a 
hedge fence is gathering and burning the annual or semi- 
annual trimmings. It is generally done with pitchforks, 
and often causes pain. To have a long shoot, covered 
with thorns an inch long, spring out from a roll of 
brush and hit one square across the countenance, is ex- 
asperating in the extreme. To avoid this danger, many 
expedients are resorted to. Among the best of these 
is a long, strong rail, with a horse hitched to each end 



224: FARM CONVENIENCES. 

by means of ropes or chains eight or ten feet long. A 
boy is placed on each horse, and two men with heavy 
sticks, eight or ten feet long, follow. The horses walk 
on each side of the row of brush, and the men place 
one end of their sticks just in front of the rail, and hold 
them at an angle of about forty-five degrees, to pre- 
vent the brush from sliding over it. When a load 'is 
gathered, the horses are turned about, and the rail with- 
drawn from the brash. 

The device shown in figure 203 is an improvement 
on this method. A good, heavy pole, eight to twelve 
feet long, has four or five two-inch hard-wood teeth set 
in it, as seen in the cut. These teeth may be twelve to 




Fig. 203.— A BRUSH KAKE. 

twenty inches long, and slide on the ground in front of 
the pole similar to those of a revolving hay rake. The 
handles are six to eight feet long, of ash or other tough 
Avood, and fit loosely into the holes in the pole. Two 
horses are employed, one at each end of the rake. One 
man holds the handles, and raises or lowers the teeth as 
necessary. When a load is gathered, the handles are 
withdrawn, the ends of the teeth strike the ground, 
throw the pole up, and it passes over the heap. After 
a little practice, a man can handle this rake so as to 
gather up either large or small brush perfectly clean, 
and do it rapidly. 



FARM CONVEKIENCES. 225 



DIGGING MUCK AND PEAT. 

A dry fall often furnishes the best time in the whole 
circle of the year for procuring the needed supply of 
muck or peat for absorbents in the sty and stable. The 
use of this article is on the increase among those farm- 
ers who have faithfully tried it, and are seeking to make 
the most of home resources of fertilizers. Some who 
have used muck only in the raw state have probably 
abandoned it, but this does not impeach its value. All 
that is claimed for it has been proved substantially cor- 
rect, by the practice of thousands of our most intelligent 
cultivators^ in all parts of the land. There is consider- 
able difference in its value, depending somewhat upon 
the vegetable growth of which it is mainly composed, 
but almost any of it, if exposed to the atmosphere a year 
before use, will pay abundantly for digging. This dried 
article, kept under cover, should be constantly in the 
stables, in the sties and sinks, and in the compost heap. 
So long as there is the smell of ammonia from the stable 
or manure heap, 3'ou need more of this absorbent. Hun- 
dreds of dollars are wasted on many a farm, every year, 
for want of some absorbent to catch this volatile and most 
valuable constituent of manure. In some sections it is 
abundant within a short distance of the barn. The most 
difficult part of supplying this absorbent is the digging. 
In a dry fall the water has evaporated from the swamps, 
so that the peat bed can be excavated to a depth of four 
or five feet at a single digging. Oftentimes ditching, for 
the sake of surface draining, will give the needed supply 
of absorbents. It will prove a safe investment to hire 
extra labor for the enlargement of the muck bank. It 
helps right where our farming is weakest — in the manu- 
facture of fertilizers. It is a good article not only for 
compost with stable manure, but to mix with other fertil- 
10* 



226 FARM CO]!^VENIENCES. 

izers, as butcher's offal, night soil, kainite, ashes, bone 
dust, fish, rock weed, kelp, and other marine products. 
Dig the muck when most convenient and have it ready. 



A CLEANER FOR HORSES' HOOFS. 

The engraving herewith given shows a simple and 
convenient implement for removing stones and other 
substances from between the frog and the ends of a 
horse's shoe. Its value for this and other purposes will 
be quickly appreciated by every driver and horse owner. 
When not in use, the hook is turned within the loop of 




Fig. 204.— A. HOOF-CLEANEK. 

the handle, and the whole is easily carried in the pocket. 
The engraving shows the implement open, two and one- 
half times reduced in size. If horsemen keep this 
cleaner within easy reach, it will often serve a good 
turn, and be of greater value than a pocket corkscrew. 



COLD WEATHER SHELTER FOR STOCK PROFITABLE. 

Not one farmer in a hundred understands the impor- 
tance of shelter for stock. This has much to do with 
success or failure of tens of thousands of farmers. Ani- 
mals fairly sheltered consume from ten to forty per cent, 
less food, increase more in weight, come out in spring far 
healthier ; and working and milk-producing animals are 
much better able to render effective service. The loss 



FARM CONVE>nE>^CES. 227 

of one or more working horses or oxen, or of cows, or 
other farm stock, is often a staggering blow to those 
scarcely able to make the ends of the year meet, and the 
large majority of such losses of animals are traceable to 
diseases due, directly or indirectly, to improper protec- 
tion in autumn, winter, or spring. Of the food eaten, 
all the animals use up a large percentage in producing 
the natural heat of the body at all seasons, and heat 
enough to keep up ninety-eight degrees all through the 
body is absolutely essential. Only what food remains 
after this heat is provided in the system can go to increase 
growth and strength, and to the manufacture of milk 
in cows and of eggs in fowls. When heat escapes rap- 
idly from the surface, as in cold weather, more heat must 
be produced within, and more food be thus consumed. 
In nature this is partly guarded against by thicker hair 
or fur in winter. 

Any thinking man will see that an animal either re- 
quires less food, or has more left' for other uses, if it is 
protected artificially against winds that carry off heat 
rapidly, and against storms that promote the loss of heat 
by evaporation of moisture from the surface of the body. 
A dozen cows, for example, will consume from two to 
six tons more of hay if left exposed from October to 
April, than if warmly sheltered, and in the latter case 
they will be in much better health and vigor, and give 
much more milk. Other cattle, horses, sheep and swine 
will be equally benefited by careful protection. 



GOOD STONE TROUGHS OR TANKS. 

Figure 205 shows an unpatented stone water tank, or 
trough, neat, effective, and readily constructed by almost 
any one. These troughs may be of any length, width 



228 FARM CONVENIENCES 

and dei^th desired, according to their position, use, and 
the size of stones available. Here are the figures of the 
one shown : The two side-pieces are flagging stones, 
six feet long and twenty-seven inches wide. The bottom- 
piece is four feet ten inches long, two feet wide ; and the 
two end-pieces, two feet long, twenty inches wide, or high. 
These stones were all a little under two inches thick. Five 
rods, of three-eighths inch round iron, have a flat head on 
one end, and screw and nut on the other ; or there may 




Fig. 20"). — A STONE TROUGU. 

be simply a screw and nut on each end ; they must not 
extend out to be in the way. Five holes are bored or 
drilled through each side-piece, which is easily done with 
brace and bit in ordinary stone. The middle hole is four 
to five inches above the bottom edge, so that the rod 
through it will fit under and partially support the bot- 
tom stone. The end rods are about four inches from 
the ends of the side-pieces, and stand clear of the end 
stones in this case so that the dipper handles hang upon 
them; but they may run against the end stones. When 
setting up, the stones being placed nearly in position, 
newly-mixed hydraulic cement is placed in all the joints, 
and the rods screwed up firmly. The mortar squeezed 
out in tightening the rods is smoothed off neatly, so that 
when hardened the whole is almost compact solid stone- 
work — if good water-lime be used. Almost any flat 
stones will answer, if the edges of the bottom and end- 
pieces be dressed and a somewhat smooth groove be cut 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 229 

in the side-pieces for them to fit into or against. The 
mortar will fill up any irregularities. A little grooving 
will give a better support to the bottom-piece and the 
ends than tlie simple cement and small rods. It will be 
noted that the side-pieces extend down, like sleigh run- 
ners, leaving an open space below. A hole can be drilled 
in a lower edge to let out the water in hard freezing 
weather, and be stopped with a wooden plug. Such 
tanks will keep water purer than wood, and last a cen- 
tury or longer, if not allowed to be broken by freezing. 
Any leakage can be quickly stopped by draining off the 
water and applying a little cement mortar where needed. 
When fiagging or other fiat stones are plentiful, the 
work and cost would be little, if any, more than for 
wooden tanks. They can be set in the ground if de- 
sired. The iron rods need painting, or covering with 
asphalt, to prevent rusting. 



ARTIFICIAL FEEDING OF LAMBS. 

It frequently happens that artificial feeding of lambs 
is necessary, and to do it successfully good judgment is 
required. The point is to promote a healthy and rapid 
growth, and not allow the lambs to scour. The milk of 
some cows, especially Jerseys, is too rich, and should be 
diluted with a little warm water. Farrow cows' milk, 
alone, is not a good feed, since it frequently causes con- 
stipation. It may be given by adding a little cane mo- 
lasses. Milk, when fed, should be at about its natural 
temperature, and not scalded. Lambs, and especially 
*^pet" lambs, are often ''killed with kindness." Feed 
only about a gill to a half pint at first. After the lamb 
has become accustomed to the milk, it may be fed to the 
extent of its appetite. When old enough, feed a little 
flax seed and oats, or oil-meal if early fattening is desired. 



230 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



There are various methods of feeding young lambs arti- 
ficial]}'. A satisfactory way is to use a one-quart kerosene 
oil can with the spout fixed so as to attach a nipple ; the 
milk flows more freely from this than from a bottle, on 
account of the yent. Let ewes and lambs have clean, 
well-ventilated apartments. When the weather is mild 
and warm turn them out into the yard. If it is not con- 
venient to let the ewes out, arrange partitions and pens, 
so that the lambs may enjoy the outside air and sun- 
light. 



A CONVENIENT BAILED BOX. 

The common box with a bail, or handle, is a useful 
farm appliance ; it answers the purpose of a basket, is 
much more durable, and a great deal cheaper. Instead 
of a flat bail, we would suggest, for heavy work, a green 
hickory or other tough stick, to be chamfered off where 
it is nailed to the sides of the box, the portion for the 




Fig. 206. — A BAILED BOX. 

hand being, of course, left round. It will be found use- 
ful to have these boxes of a definite size, to hold a half- 
bushel or a bushel. A legal bushel is two thousand one 
hundred and fifty (and a fraction) cubic inches. A box 
may be made of this cai^acity of any desired shape. 
Ends a foot square, and side-pieces and the bottom 



FARM COiTVEKIEKCES. 231 

eighteen and a half-inches long, will make a bushel box. 
If desired narrower, make the ends eight inches high and 
fourteen inches wide, with the sides and bottom two feet 
long. Such a box, shown in figure 206, "iiolds a yery lit- 
tle more than an even bushel. It is inexpensive. 



SAWDUST FOR BEDDING. 

We have tried for two years dry sawdust in the cows' 
stable, and on the whole like it better than any bedding 
we have ever tried. It makes a more comfortable bed, 
comjiletely absorbs the urine, and the cow is kej3t clean 
with less labor than when any otlier is nsed. The ob- 
jection to salt-marsh sods, dried, or to headlands, and 
dry muck, is that they soil the cow, and make it neces- 
sary to wash the bag before milking. Straw, of all sorts, 
soon becomes foul, and, without more care than the ordi- 
nary hired man is likely to bestow, soils the cow's bag 
also. Dry sawdust is clean, and makes a soft, spongy 
bed, and is an excellent absorbent. The bag is kept 
clean Avith the aid of a coarse brush without washing. 
A charge of fifteen bushels in a common box-stall, or 
cow stable, will last a month, if the manure, dropped 
upon the surface, is removed daily. The porous nature 
of the material admits of perfect drainage, and of rapid 
evaporation, of the liquid part of the manure. The saw- 
dust is not so i^erfect an absorbent of ammonia as muck, 
but it is a much better one than straw, that needs to be 
dried daily, in the sun and wind, to keep it in comfort- 
able condition for the animals. In the vicinity of saw 
and shingle mills, and of ship-yards, the sawdust accu- 
mulates rapidly, and is a troublesome waste that mill- 
owners are glad to be rid of. It can be had for the cart- 
ing. But even where it is sold at one or two cents a 
bushel, a common price, it makes a very cheap and sub- 



232 



FARM CONVENIEl^rCES. 



stantial bedding. The saturated sawdust makes an ex- 
cellent manure, and is so fine that it can he used to ad- 
vantage in drills. It is valuable to loosen compact clay 
soils, and will helj) to retain moisture on thin, sandy and 
gravelly soils. There is a choice in the varieties of saw- 
dust for manure, but not much for bedding. The hard 
woods make a much better fertilizer than the resinous 
timber. To keep a milch cow in clean, comfortable 
condition, we have not found its equal. 



A CHEAP ENSILAGE CART. 

The adoption by many farmers of the silo method of 
preserving fodder, has made it necessary to change the 
manner of feeding live stock. When the ensilage is re- 
moved twenty feet or more from the silo to the feeding 
rack, it is best to have some means of conveying it in 




Fig. 207.— AN ENSILAGE CAIiT. 

quantities of from one to two hundred pounds at a time. 
This can be done cheaply and quickly by a small hand- 
cart, one of which any farmer having the tools can make 
in half a day. A good form of ensilage cart is shown in 
figure 207, and is simply a box eighteen inches wide. 



FARM COKVEKIEKCES. 233 

three feet long, and two and a half feet in hight. A 
wooden axle, of some tough fibre, is nailed to the bottom, 
ten inches from the end, and wheels from one to two 
feet in diameter are placed upon the axle. Suitable 
wheels can be made from planks, with cleats nailed on 
to keep them from splitting. Handles and legs are at- 
tached as shown in the engraving. The axle being near 
the centre, throws nearly the whole weight of the load 
upon it while being moved. It will be found easier to 
handle than a barrow, and not so liable to upset when 
unequally loaded. It is a cheap arrangement, and may 
be used for various other purposes as well as for moving 
ensilage. , 



MILKING AND MILKING TIME. 

Any one who has had to do with dairy farming knows 
that there are a great many poor milkers, against a few 
who understand and practice the proper method of re- 
moving the milk from a cow. It is a well-known fact 
that some persons can obtain more milk from a co\V 
with greater ease and in quicker time than others. In 
the first place, there must be an air and spirit of gentle- 
ness about the milker, which the cow is quick to com- 
prehend and appreciate. It is not to be expected that a 
cow, and especially a nervous one, will have that easy, 
quiet condition so necessary to insure an unrestrained 
flow of milk, when she is approached in a rough way, 
and has a person at her teats that she justly dislikes. 
There must be a kindness of treatment which begets a 
confidence before the cow will do her best at the pail. 
She should know that the milker comes not as a thief to 
rob her, but simply to relieve her of her burden, and do 
it in the quickest, quietest, and kindest way possible. 
The next point in proper milking is cleanliness : and it 



334 FARM co:n-vekien"ces. 

is of the greatest importance if first-class milk and bat- 
ter are the eucls to be gained in keeping cows. No sub- 
stance is so easily tainted and spoiled as milk ; it is par- 
ticularly sensitive to bad odors or dirt of any kind, and 
unless the proper neatness is observed in the milking, 
the products of the dairy will be faulty and second-class. 
Those persons who can and will practice cleanliness at 
the cow, are the only ones Avho should do the milking. 
It matters not how much care is taken to be neat in all 
the operations of the dairy, if the milk is made filthy at 
the start ; no strainer will take out the bad flavor. 
Three all-essential i^oints are to be strictly observed in 
milking : kindness, guickness, and neatness. Aside 
from these three is the matter of the time of milking. 
It should be done at the same hour each and every day, 
Sundays not excepted. It is both cruel iind unprofitable 
to keep the cows with their udders distended and aching 
an hour over their time. We will add another ness to 
the essentials already given, namely: promptness. 



A REVOLVING SHEEP HURDLE, 

An easily moved feeding liurdle is shown in figure 208. 
It consists of a stout pole or scantling of any convenient 
length, bored with two series of holes, alternating in 
nearly opposite directions, and twelve inches apart. 
Small poles five or six feet long are so placed in the holes 
that each adjoining j^air makes the form of the letter X. 
These hurdles are arranged in a row across the field, and 
the sheep feed through the spaces between the slanting 
poles. The hurdles are moved forward by revolving 
them, as shown in the engraving. By using two rows of 
these hurdles, sheep may be kept on a narrow strip of 
land, and given a fresh pasture daily by advancing the 



FARM COKVEKIEKCES. 



235 



lines of hurdles. This method of feeding off a forage 
crop is one of the most effective and inexpensive for en- 







Fig. 208.— A REVOLVING HURDLE FENCE. 

riching worn-out land, especially if a daily ration of 
grain oi oil-cake is given to the sheep. 



LIGHTS IX THE BARN, 

It is estimated that nine-tenths of all fires are caused 
by carelessness. Winter is the season when the lantern 
is frequently used in the barn, and we give a word of 
caution. Never light a lamp or lantern of any kind in 
the barn. Smokers may include their jDipes and cigars 
in the above. The lantern should be lighted in the house 
or some out-building where no combustibles are stored. 
A lantern which does not burn well should never be 
put in order in the hay-mow. There is a great tempta- 
tion to strike a match and re-light an extinguished lan- 
tern, wherever it may be. It is best to even feel one's 



236 



FARM CONVEN^IEKCES. 



way out to a safe place, than to run any risks. If the 
light is not kept in the hand, it should be hung up. 
Provide hooks in the various rooms where the lights are 
used. A wire running the whole length of the horse 
stable, at the rear of the stalls, and furnished with a 
sliding hook, is very convenient for night work with the 
horses. Some farmers are so careless as to keep the 
lamp oil in the barn, and fill the lantern there while the 
wick is burning. Such risks are too great, even if the 
buildings are insured. 



A NEST FOR SITTING HENS. 

The nest box shown in figure 209 can be made to con- 
tain as many nests as desired, and be placed in the 
poultry house or any other convenient place. When a 
hen is set in one of the nests, the end of the lever is slid 
from under tlie catch on top of the box, and the door 
falls over the entrance to keep out other hens. They 
rarely molest the sitting hen after she has held exclusive 
possession three or four days, and the drop may be raised 




' Fig. 209.— BOX OF hens' nest. 

again. . The box legs should not be over six inches long. 
The step in front of the nests, four to six inches wide, 
is a continuation of the bottom of the box. It is a vast 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 237 

improvement on old barrels, broken boxes, and other 
makeshift hens' n^sts so generally employed. 



BARN-YARD ECONOMY. 

A dark stream, often of golden color, always of golden 
value, flows to waste from many an American barn-yard. 
This liquid fertility often enters the side ditch of the 
farm lane, sometimes of the highway, and empties into 
a brook, which removes it beyond the reach of plants 
that would greatly profit by it. Mice may gnaw a hole 
into the granary and daily abstract a small quantity of 
grain, or the skunks may reduce the profits of the poul- 
try yards, but these leaks are small in comparison with 
that from the poorly-constructed and ill-kept barn-yard. 
The most valuable part of manure is that which is very 
soluble, and unless it is retained by some absorbent, or 
kept from the drenching rains, it will be quickly out of 
reach. Manure is a manufactured product, and the suc- 
cess of all farm operations in the older States depends 
upon the quantity and quality of this product. Other 
things being equal, the farmer who comes out in the 
spring with the largest amount of the best quality of 
manure will be the one who finds farming pays the best. 
A barn-yard, whether on a side-hill or on a level, with 
all the rains free to fall upon the manure heap, should 
be so arranged as to lose none of the drainage. Side-hill 
barn-yards are common, because the barns thus located 
furnish a convenient cellar. A barrier of earth on the 
lower side of the yard can be quickly thrown up with a 
team and road-scraper, which will catch and hold the 
drench ings of the yard above, and the coarse, newly- 
made manure will absorb the liquid and be benefited by 
it. It would be better to have the manure made and 



238 FARM CONVE^^IENCES. 

kcj^t under cover, nhvays well protected from rains and 
melting snows. Only enough moisture should be pres- 
ent to keep it from fermenting too rapidly. An old 
farmer who let his manure take care of itself, once kept 
some of his sheeji under cover, and was greatly surprised 
at the increased value of the manure thus made. In 
fact, it was so ** strong" that when scattered as thickly 
as the leached dung of the yard, it made a distinct belt 
of better grain in the field. The testimony was so much 
in favor of the stall-made manure that this farmer is 
now keeping all his live stock under cover, and the farm 
is yielding larger crops and growing richer year by year. 
If it pays to stop any leak in the granary, it is all the 
more important to look well to the manure that fur- 
nishes the food, that feeds the plants, that grow the 
grain, that fills the grain bin. At this season the living 
mills are all grinding the hay and grain, and yielding 
the by-23roducts of the manure heap. Much may be 
saved in spring work by letting this heap be as small 
as out-door yard feeding and the winds and rains can 
make it, but such saving is like that of the economic 
sportsman who went out with the idea of using as little 
powder and lead as possible. In farming, grow the 
largest possible crops, even though it takes a week or 
more of steady hard work to get the rich, heavy, well- 
prepared manure upon the fields. More than this, en- 
rich the land by throwing every stream of fertility back 
upon the acres w^hicli have yielded it. Watch the ma- 
nure heap as you would a mine of gold. 



A CHEAP MANURE SHED. 



Many farmers waste much of their stable manure by 
throwing it out of doors to be acted upon by sun and 



FARM CONVEKIENCES. 239 

rain. AVe recently saw a very cheap, sensible method 
of almost wholly preventing such loss. A board roof, 
ten feet square, is supported by posts eight feet long 
above ground, which are connected inside by a wall of 
planks (or of poles, as the one examined was). Near the 
post at each end, stakes a,a(^ figure 210), are set, against 
which one end of the end-planks rest. This allows the 



Fig. 210.— A SHED FOR MANURE. 

front planks, d, d, to be removed in filling or loading. 
It is placed near the stable, preferably, so that the ma- 
nure from the stable can be thrown directly into one 
corner, whence it is forked to the opposite corner in a 
few days, to prevent too violent fermentation. A fre- 
quent addition of sods, leaves, and other materials that 
will decompose, will increase the heap, and improve its 
value, supplying a manure superior to many of the com- 
mercial fertilizers, at less cost. 



A SHEEP RACK. 



The dimensions of the rack (fig. 211) are : length 
twelve feet, width two feet nine inches, and hight three 
feet. The materials are : ten boards twelve feet long, 



240 



FARM CONVENIENCES. 



eight of them ten inches wide, one seven inches wide, 
and one eight inches wide ; four boards, two feet nine 
inches long and twelve inches wide; six posts three by four 
inches, three feet long ; sixty-four slats, sixteen inches 
long and one inch square ; and two strij^s, twelve feet 
long and two and a half inches wide. Nail the two nar- 
rower boards in the shape of a trough, turn it bottom 
up, and draw a line through the middle of each side. 
Set the dividers to four and a half inches, and mark 
along the lines for holes with a three-quarter-inch bit, 
and bore the narrow strips to match. Set the slats into 
the trough, and fasten the strips on their upper ends. 
Nail two of the boards to the posts on each side, as seen 
in the sketch, and also the short boards on the ends. 




FODDEK HACK FOR SHEEP. 



Lay in a floor one foot from the ground, and set in the 
trough as shown in the engraving. Fit a board from 
the slats up to the top of the outside of the frame. The 
floor need not cover the middle under the trough. 



201 












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